Salix babylonica Salix babylonica Salix babylonica (Babylon willow or weeping willow; ) is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southwest Asia and Europe. "Salix babylonica" is a medium- to large-sized deciduous tree, growing up to tall. It grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan, between 40 and 75 years. The shoots are yellowish-brown, with small buds. The leaves are alternate and spirally arranged, narrow, light green, 4–16 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad, with finely serrate margins and long acuminate tips; they turn
Salix matsudana female catkins on separate trees. The leaves are narrow, light green, around 4–10 cm long and 1–2 cm broad. The flowers are borne in catkins produced early in the spring The "Flora of China" recognizes three varieties within the species "Salix matsudana:" Many botanists, notably the Russian willow expert Alexei Konstantinovich Skvortsov, treat "Salix matsudana" as a synonym of the Peking willow "Salix babylonica", which, despite its botanical name, is also native to northern China. The only reported difference between the two is that "S. matsudana" has two nectaries in each female flower, whereas "S. babylonica" has only one; however