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 laevigata Salix laevigata Salix laevigata, the red willow or polished willow, is a species of willow native to the southwestern United States and northern Baja California. The red willow is a small tree up to in height. Like most other willows, it commonly grows along riverbanks and in other areas with high soil moisture. The red willow occurs along the coast of Baja California and in California north to Cape Mendocino. It occurs east of the San Joaquin Valley in the lower elevation western foothills of the Sierra Nevada; it is absent from the Central Valley itself. Small occurrences can be