The long journey of the Weeping willow

 

A weeping willow on the bank of the river Wear below Durham cathedral, glowing in early afternoon winter sunshine. An idyllic spot for a riverbank picnic in summer, watching the boats on the river.

The true weeping willow Salix babylonica, of willow pattern ceramics fame, came to England from China and was carried by traders along the Silk Road to Aleppo in Syria, from whence it was brought to England in 1730. 

All the original introductions here were female trees and had to be propagated from cuttings, but these were not fully hardy in our climate and pure-line S. babylonica trees are now thought to be extinct here. Fortunately they hybridised easily with native willow species and have persisted as hybrids of unknown male parentage, although frequently-planted Salix x sepulcralis is thought to be a hybrid with white willow Salix alba. It came from a nursery in Berlin, sometime around 1888.

Willow species in general are notoriously prone to forming hybrids and can be hard to identify with certainty, without scrutinising bark, buds, leaves, flowers and general habit of the tree throughout the growing season.