Salix sepulcralis(x)

Weeping Willow

Scientific name: Salix x sepulcralis Simonk. (= Salix alba x Salix babylonica L.)

Diagnostic features
Tree to 22m with distinctive weeping habit.
Twigs sparsely pubescent at first, soon glabrous and ± glossy, brownish, or yellowish (nothovar. chrysocoma (Dode) Meikle).
Leaves 7-12 x 0.7-1.8cm, sparsely pubescent at first, soon ± glabrous.
Stamens 2.
Catkins often bisexual.

Chromosome number: (2n=76).

Habitat
Introduced-survivor; much planted, often in masses and often persisting in wild places.

Distribution
Lowland British Isles; garden origin.

This hybrid is keyed out on Page 1614 in the Text Key.

Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Angiospermophyta
Class Magnoliopsida
Subclass Magnoliidae
Superorder Dilleniiflorae
Order Salicales
Family Salicaceae
Genus Salix
Section Salix
Species Salix sepulcralis(x)

Salix x sepulcralis Simonk. (= Salix alba x Salix babylonica L.)
Salix chrysocoma(x) Dode

Weeping Willow (English)
Willow, Weeping [English]
Seileach an t-Sruth (Gaelic)

Meikle, R.D., 1984. Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland. BSBI Handbook No. 4. Botanical Society of the British Isles, London. Illustrated by Victoria Gordon.

Salix sepulcralis(x) 2 (Male and female flowers, picture taken in cultivation by C.A. Stace)
Salix sepulcralis(x) 3 (Tree, picture taken in cultivation by C. Gibson)
Salix sepulcralis(x) a (Leafy branch with male and female catkins and flower details, drawing by V. Gordon in Meikle, 1984; BSBI Handbook 4.)
Salix sepulcralis(x) b (Leaf, picture by C.A. Stace in Stace, 1997)