Weeping Willow
Salix babylonica
Family Salicaceae

Characteristics:
* Leaves thin, narrow, sometimes with whitened or silky undersides, 1-5".
* Twigs and branchlets very long and drooping, with brittle bases.
* Height: 30-50".

Natural History:
* Habitat: Shorelines and streambanks, frequently overhanging water.
* Range: Escaped from cultivation; now found throughout the United States and Canada.
* Introduced from China.

Connections!
* The willow is an Old World tree, much celebrated in poetry. Here are some samples...

* Blue, blue is the grass about the river
And the willows have overfilled the close garden.
And within, the mistress, in the midmost of her youth,
White, white of face, hesitates, passing the door.
Slender, she puts forth a slender hand."
-Ezra Pound, 1885-1972, from The Beautiful Toilet

* "Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver."
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1809-1892

* "There is a willow grows aslant a brook
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream."
-William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

* "Her salt tears fell from her, and soften'd the stones;-
Sing willow, willow, willow
Sing all a green willow must be my garland."
-Shakespeare