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 matsudana Salix matsudana Salix matsudana, the Chinese willow, is a species of willow native to northeastern China. The species is named in honour of Sadahisa Matsuda, a Japanese botanist. Three varieties are recognized, "Salix matsudana" var. "anshanensis", "S. matsudana" var. "matsudana", and "S. matsudana" var. "pseudomatsudana". The species is widely cultivated in China, and a horticultural variant with twisted twigs and trunk, the corkscrew willow ("S. matsudana" var. "tortuosa"), is widely planted. "Salix matsudana" is a medium-sized to large, deciduous, upright, rapidly growing tree to 20–40 ft tall, but has a short lifespan. "Salix matsudana" is dioecious, with the male and