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Peking Willow
Peking Willows planted at Shijiazhuang, south of Beijing, China
Conservation status
Secure
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malpighiales Family: Salicaceae Genus: Salix Species: S. babylonica
Binomial name
Salix babylonica L.

The Peking Willow (Salix babylonica), also known as the Babylon 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 Babylon, hence the scientific name.

It is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree, growing up to 20-25 m tall. It grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan. It has narrow, light green leaves, around 4-10 cm long and 1-2 cm broad. The flowers are catkins produced early in the spring; it is dioecious, with the male and female catkins on separate trees.

Many botanists treat the Chinese Willow Salix matsudana as a synonym of Salix babylonica; it 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 this character is not reliable in many willows (e.g. Crack Willow can have either one or two), so even this difference may mean nothing.

Peking Willow is a popular ornamental tree in northern China, and is also grown for wood production and shelterbelts there, being particularly important around the oases of the Gobi Desert to protect agricultural land from desert winds.

It has also been introduced into many other areas, but has not generally been successful in cultivation outside of China, being very short-lived and unsightly due to canker diseases in the more humid climates in much of Europe and North America. It is particularly susceptible to Willow Anthracnose Marssonina salicicola.

Early Chinese cultivar selections include the original Weeping Willow Salix babylonica 'Pendula', in which the branches and twigs are strongly pendulous. However, most Weeping Willows outside of China are a hybrid between this cultivar and the White Willow, which is better adapted to humid climates.

• Salix babylonica (weeping willow) images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu

The Salix babylonica derives its name from Psalm 137 ("By the rivers of Babylon"), which laments the exile of the Israelites from their land, Israel, into a strange and unfriendly Babylonia. According to the Psalm, they weep beneath the willow trees on the riverbanks of Babylonia, and thus, the weeping willow is named for one of the more famous places where people lamented beside it.