Common name: gele treurwilg (NL), treurwylch (Fryske), Weeping Willow (EN)

Native range: Britain

Pollination: Wind

Seed dspersal: Birds and mammals

Conservation: Not assessed

The gele treurwilg is a hybrid between Salix alba and Salix babylonica and belongs to the group of the weeping willows. These trees are often used as symbols of tears or grief and placed in cementeries, this tradition is ancient and goes back to the times when the torches during the funerals were made of the wood of these trees. The weeping willows have not been granted with good reputation, as back in the time of Alexander the Great, the fact that a Willow swept the crown from his head as he was crossing the Euphrates river, was seen as a premonition of his death.

USES:

• Ornamental

The tree in winter..

And in spring…

References and more information at:

Weeping willows

Plants of the World (Kew Botanical Garden)

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