Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Salix x sepulcralis

Male catkins and leaves. Photographer Loyna, England

Leaves. Photographer Andre Karwath, unknown place

Trunk. Photographer Steven J. Baskauf, Tennessee, USA

Tree. Photographer przykuta, Poland

Common name

Weeping Willow (nothovar. sepulcralis), Golden Weeping Willow (nothovar. chrysocoma)

Family

Salicaceae

Where found

Moist places, along streams, and around dams. Occasional. Tablelands and Western Slopes. Doubtfully naturalised in the ACT (nothovar. chrysocoma).

Notes

Introduced deciduous weeping tree to 18 m or more tall. Bark grey-brown to dark brown, ultimately moderately fissured. Outer branches, twigs and shoots weeping. Leaves alternating down the stems, 7-18.5 cm long, 8-29 mm wide, hairless and more or less glaucous on the lower surface, margins glandular and finely toothed, tips gradually tapering to a point. Male and female flowers on separate plants or on the same plant. Individual flowers often small, with 0 petals, in cylindrical clusters (catkins) 15–50 mm long, appearing with the new leaves in spring.

A Weed of National Significance. General Biosecurity Duty with additional restrictions all NSW. Pest plant ACT. Noxious weed Vic.

nothovar. chrysocoma: Twigs golden to greenish-yellow; distribution of sexes more or less equal, plants commonly with male and female flowers.

Salix x sepulcralis var. chrysocoma in PlantNET.

nothovar. sepulcralis:  Twigs brown-green to olive-green; plants apparently mostly female. 

Salix x sepulcralis var. sepulcralis in PlantNET.

PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Salix~x+sepulcralis (accessed 20 April 2021)