Willow are very cross-compatible, and numerous hybrids occur, both naturally and in cultivation. A well-known ornamental example is the weeping willow ("Salix × sepulcralis"), which is a hybrid of Peking willow ("Salix babylonica") from China and white willow ("Salix alba") from Europe. The hybrid cultivar 'Boydii' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Numerous cultivars of "Salix" L. have been developed and named over the centuries. New selections of cultivars with superior technical and ornamental characteristics have been chosen deliberately and applied to various purposes. Most recently, "Salix" has become an important source for bioenergy production and for
Salix hookeriana Salix hookeriana Salix hookeriana is a species of willow known by the common names dune willow, coastal willow, and Hooker's willow. "Salix hookeriana" is a shrub or tree growing up to tall, sometimes forming bushy colonial thickets. The leaves are up to 11 cm long, generally oval in shape, wavy along the edges, and hairy to woolly in texture with shiny upper surfaces. The inflorescence is a catkin of flowers up to 9 cm long, with the female catkins growing longer as the fruits develop. This willow may hybridize with similar species. The Latin specific epithet "hookeriana" refers to William