Weeping Willow

Salix babylonica

Identification Information

Date: Saturday, June 12, 2021

Time:  6:55 a.m.

Location:  Memorial Park (75 W. King Street, Pottstown, PA 19464)

Habitat:  Palustrine Sycamore-Birch forest

Weather conditions:  73 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly humid, clear skies

Ahhh, the weeping willow (with some bonus Mallards bathing in the background).  The Weeping Willow is not native to North America.  Because of its dramatic look it has been planted so often that it is part of many local forests. 

Its leaves are long (about 5 inches), simple, very narrow (about half an inch), and lanceolate in shape (wider at the base and coming to a point at the tip).  They are arranged in an alternate pattern. (Brockman, 1986, p. 82)

 Branches grow in crowns so that, along with the long and thin leaves, gives the tree an appearance of hanging.  This particular willow was not quite 30 feet high with a trunk diameter of less than a foot.  The bark was dark with deep ridges.

My favorite bit of knowledge from my research is about the scientific name.  The origin of the name is from the Bible.  A verse in Psalms describes people weeping while sitting near the rivers of Babylon, hanging their harps on the willows nearby.  It was the inspiration for the "On the Willows" song in one of my favorite musicals, Godspell.  And yet, the trees near the Euphrates river are a relative of willows... poplars.  Oh, the irony.

  

Salix babylonica. (2021, January 20). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from 

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salix_babylonica#Horticultural_selections_and_related_hybrids