1 752, The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



Distribution 



S. babylonica was the name given by Linnaeus a to the common weeping willow 

 cultivated in Europe, which he erroneously supposed to have been identical with the 

 trees growing by the rivers of Babylon, which are mentioned in Psalm cxxxvii. 2. 

 The latter are, without doubt, 2 a species of poplar, Populus euphratica. The original 

 home of the weeping willow appears to be central and southern China, where it is 

 commonly found on the banks of rivers and canals, as well as in gardens. Fortune 8 

 observed this tree, identical in all respects with that cultivated in Europe, in the 

 neighbourhood of Shanghai and Canton, and also near Ningpo, where it is sometimes 

 planted around graves. 



The typical form of the species, that long cultivated in Europe and prevalent in 

 central and southern China, is always a female tree, with long pendulous branchlets. 

 In the neighbourhood of Peking 4 a variety is more common, which may be dis- 

 tinguished as var. pekinensis, Henry. This is an upright tree, with ascending 

 branches, which is known in both sexes. The foliage is practically identical 6 with 

 that of the typical form ; but there is a marked difference, not only in habit, but in 

 the pistillate catkins, which are extremely short and compact in this variety, not 

 exceeding \ in. in length, often on leafless peduncles ; ovaries wider, ending in two 

 short undivided stigmas ; scales nearly glabrous. Var. pekinensis is represented at 

 Kew by a tree, about 15 ft. high, originally from Peking, which was obtained from 

 the Arnold Arboretum in 1905. This tree, like the common weeping willow, is 

 injured regularly by spring frosts. 



From China the weeping willow was early introduced into Japan, where it is 

 now cultivated and naturalised in many places. 6 During the Middle Ages it was 

 probably carried westward to Persia, Asia Minor, and Turkey ; and it is now also 

 "cultivated in Baluchistan, Northern India, and the Punjab, and less commonly in 

 the plains farther east, and also in Kurdistan," 7 



The first mention of the tree in European literature is by Petiver, 8 who refers 

 to a specimen gathered in China by Cunningham in 1701, but which cannot now be 

 found in the British Museum. The first mention of the tree in the Levant was by 

 Tournefort 9 in 1719; and it is possible that either he or Wheler, who travelled in 

 Asia Minor and Greece in 1675- 1676, introduced it into western Europe. 



1 First described by Linmeus, in Hort. Cliff. 454 (1737). 



2 Cf. Koch, Dendrologie, ii. pt. i. 507 (1872). S. babylonica is not now found in Babylonia. See p. 177 1, note 4. 



3 Wanderings in China, 118, 136 (1847), and Residence Among the Chinese, 52 (1857). The weeping willow is 

 apparently depicted by Nieuhoff, V Embassade des Provinces Unies vers China, i. 189 (1665), in a view of Tonnau, a village 

 on the river Wei in the province of Shantung. 



4 Cf. Bretschneider, in Journ. N. C. Branch, R. Asiat. Soc. xv. 15, 30 (1880), and Bot. Sinic. ii. 359 (1892). The 

 name of S. babylonica in China is yang-liu. The weeping form is rare at Peking, where it is distinguished as ch'ui-yang-liu. 



6 The serrations of the leaves in var. pekinensis are more distantly placed, and without the cilia, which are present in the 

 typical form. These slight differences may be due to the different ages of the specimens. 



6 Franchet et Savatier, Enum. PI. Jap. L 459 (1875). 



7 Brandis, Indian Trees, 637 (1906). 



8 Mus. Petiv. Cent. 997 (1703), where it is referred to as follows : " Yang-diu chinensibus. Arbor salicis folio ramulis 

 pendulis. Frequently painted on Japan work. Of the wood they make arrows." 



9 Corollarium, 41 (1719), where it is described as follows: " Salix orientalis, fiagellis deorsum pulchre pendentibus, 

 hujus eliam meminit Wheler Itin." Wheler, Journey to Greece and Asia Minor, 217 (1682), saw near Brusa, and not far 

 from Mt. Olympus in Asia Minor, a tree which appears from his description to have been a weeping willow. 



