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 gooddingii hairs. The inflorescence is a catkin of flowers up to 8 cm long. Salix gooddingii Salix gooddingii is a species of willow known by the common name Goodding's willow, or Goodding's black willow. It was named for its collector, . "Salix gooddingii" is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in moist and wet habitat in many types of habitat from mountains to desert. It is a common riparian species. It is a tree growing to tall, with thick, furrowed, shreddy bark and many thin branches. The leaves are up to 13 cm long, generally