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 jepsonii Salix jepsonii Salix jepsonii is a species of willow known by the common name Jepson's willow. it is named for renowned California botanist Willis Linn Jepson. It is endemic to California, found in the Klamath Mountains and throughout the Sierra Nevada. It grows along rivers and streams in high mountain habitat, between in elevation. "Salix jepsonii" is a shrub growing tall, sometimes forming colonial thickets. The lance-shaped leaves may grow over 10 centimeters long. They are hairy when new, and have silky hairs on the undersides when mature. The inflorescence is a catkin of flowers, male catkins short and stout,