Salix babylonica a gold-yellow in autumn. The flowers are arranged in catkins produced early in the spring; it is dioecious, with the male and female catkins on separate trees. "Salix babylonica" was described and named scientifically by Carolus Linnaeus in 1736, who knew the species as the pendulous-branched ("weeping") variant then recently introduced into the Clifford garden in Hartekamp in The Netherlands. Early Chinese cultivar selections include the original weeping willow, "Salix babylonica" 'Pendula', in which the branches and twigs are strongly pendulous, which was presumably spread along ancient trade routes. These distinctive trees were subsequently introduced into England from Aleppo in
Salix tetrasperma and southeastern Asia, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Laos, and Thailand. In Manipur, in NE India, the new flowers of Indian willow, locally known as ঊযুম ("ooyum") are eaten, and are considered delicious. In Maharashtra, this tree is called "walunj". It can be found in Pune, Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur. Salix tetrasperma Salix tetrasperma, commonly called Indian willow, is a medium-sized tree of wet and swampy places, shedding its leaves at the end of monsoon season. It flowers after leafing. The bark is rough, with deep, vertical fissures and the young shoots leaves are silky. The leaves are lance-like, or ovate-lancelike,