Leaf: alternate, simple, 2 1/2-5" (6-13 cm) long, 1/4-1/2" (6-12 mm) wide; narrowly lance-shaped; with long-pointed tips; finely saw-toothed; dark green above, whitish or gray beneath; hanging from short leafstalks.
Flower: catkins 3/8-1" (1-2.5 cm) long; greenish; at end of short leafy twigs; in early spring; plants mostly female
Fruit: 1/16" (1.5 mm) long; light brown capsules; maturing in late spring or early summer.
Twig: yellowish-green to brownish; very slender, unbranched, drooping vertically
Bark: gray; rough, thick; deeply furrowed in long, branching ridges
Form: Tree with short trunk and broad, open, irregular crown of drooping branches.
Habitat: Parks, gardens, and cemeteries, especially near water
Range: Native of China. Naturalized locally from extreme southern Quebec and southern Ontario, south to Georgia and west to Missouri. Also planted in western states.
Location: Erica Lane, Bunker Hill, IL 4th house on the right as you are going north.
This willow is well known for its distinctive weeping foliage. It is among the first willows to bear leaves in spring and among the last to shed them in autumn. China, not Babylon, was its native home, when named, it was confused with the Euphrates Poplar (Populus euphratica).
© Community Unit School District #8, Bunker Hill
504 E. Warren, Bunker Hill, IL 62014
References:
Little, Elbert L. Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1980.
Mohlenbrock, Robert H. Forest Trees of Illinois. Springfield, IL: 1992