Agroforestree Database

Local names:
 Chinese (chui liu), English (weeping willow,babylon weeping willow), French (saule pleureur de chine,saule pleureur,saule parasol,saule de Babylone), German (trauerweide,chinesische haengeweide,ränenweide,hängeweide,gräberweide), Italian (salice piangent

Salix babylonica is a deciduous, short-lived tree to 20 m tall and d.b.h. of 60-80 cm. Stem furrowed, usually dividing near the ground, crown open, branches pendulous. Bark grey-black.

Leaves lanceolate to linear lanceolate, 9-16 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, margins finely serrate, slightly shiny, dark green above, grey-green with distinctly reticulate venation beneath. Leaf stalk 5-10 mm long, pubescent. 

Flowers in short, terminal catkins on leafy peduncles.  Male catkin is 1.8-3 cm long, 0.5-1 cm wide. Female catkin 1.5-2.5 cm long, 0.5 cm wide, appearing with leaves in April-May. 

Fruit a yellowish-brown capsule, narrowly conic to 3-4 mm long, glabrous.

Ecology

S. babylonica prefers moist environments and commonly occurs along water courses, on damp valley bottoms, and in depressions amidst sand. Weeping willow is a light-demanding species, so it has difficulty regenerating under forest canopies. It can even grow on wetlands. It tolerates flooding, and in extreme cases even submergence. Around lakes and beaches, weeping willow often forms a mixed willow-reed plant community.

Native range
China

Tree management

For pulpwood plantations or other small-stem timber forest stands, planting density ranges from 2200 to 3300 trees/ha, while a density of 1600-2200 trees/ha is used for mine timber production. The rotation of weeping willow varies according to the final product required. Trees aged 2 to 5 years old are harvested for cuttings to make planting stock; 5- and 7-year-old trees are cut for pulpwood. Seedling plantations grow slowly initially, but have a long life span and eventually produce large-sized timber. There is a significant difference in plantation growth between those established from seedlings and those originating from cuttings. The average height of an 8-year-old seedling stand is 8.3 m, but it is 17.8 m for a plantation from cuttings; average stem diameter is 14.3 cm and 42 cm, respectively. 
Weeping willow has a very strong capacity to sprout. Young shoots can reach 3 m high in one growing season. Thus, sprouting stands will gradually form when trees are harvested by clear cutting. After 10 years, average height and stem diameter of shoot sprouts may be approximately 10 m tall and 12.3 cm, respectively.

There are more than 6 million seeds/kg. Seed storage behaviour is recalcitrant. The viability of air-dry seed is 5-10 days.

S. babylonica prefers moist environments and commonly occurs along water courses, on damp valley bottoms, and in depressions amidst sand. Weeping willow is a light-demanding species, so it has difficulty regenerating under forest canopies. It can even grow on wetlands. It tolerates flooding, and in extreme cases even submergence. Around lakes and beaches, weeping willow often forms a mixed willow-reed plant community.

S. babylonica is easily propagated by cuttings, and clonal planting stock is the norm in forestry practice. Vegetative propagation has been employed largely because only the male tree is common. One-year-old twigs are cut into 10- to 15-cm segments and struck into a nursery bed filled with good quality loam or sandy-loam soil.  Seed propagation is occasionally employed. Seeds should be sown on moist nursery beds immediately after collection. At 20-25°C, fresh leaves expand and fine rhizoids appear 24 hours after sowing. The height of seedlings can reach 10-15 cm with 3-4 pairs of alternate leaves after one month and 200 cm after one year.

Erosion control:  Planting the tree along riverbanks prevents soil and water erosion, wave-shock and minimizes sediment deposition. In New Zealand, willows are widely grown for soil conservation purposes, where they are the most abundant exortic species after Pinus radiata.

The leaves and tender shoots are used as fodder for cows and goats in some areas. The fodder compares favourably with lucerne. In a survey carried out in Bumthang district, Bhutan, in 1982, Salix babylonica was found to be among the preferred fodder trees by farmers.

Apiculture: The flowers are a good source of honey.

Wood and branches of S. babylonica were traditionally used for fuelwood in China.

Fibre: S. babylonica is a source of pulpwood and produces good quality newsprint paper also used for wrapping papers and high grade Kraft paper. Branches are used for basket making.

Timber:  Weeping willow wood is usually reddish-brown, light and soft, with a straight grain, and of moderate density (325-450 kg/cu. m). It is widely used for furniture, packing cases, agricultural tools, fibreboard, plywood and mine poles

Shade or shelter:  Weeping willow is an important tree species for farmland shelterbelts.

Medicine: Leaves and bark have astringent and tonic properties. Catkins and young twigs antipyretic. A leaf infusion is given to rheumatics.

Ornamental:  S. babylonica is also valuable as an ornamental garden and park tree. The male is mainly the one planted for ornamental purposes.

Pollution control:  It tolerates high levels of sulfur dioxide.