Weeping Willow

Weeping Willow, or Babylon weeping willow, is a medium to large deciduous tree with a stout trunk topped by a graceful broad-rounded crown of branches that sweep downward to the ground. This weeping willow can be a spectacular specimen at the edge of a pond with it branches sweeping down to touch the water. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers appearing in slivery catkins on separate male and female trees. Flowering catkins appear in April-May but are not showy. Narrow pointed, finely toothed leaves are light green above and gray-green beneath. Variable fall color is usually an undistinguished greenish-yellow. It is native to extra-tropical Asia; and it has been long known in China and Turkey that the Weeping Willow is a tearful symbolism, used as a cemetery ornament signifying an association of grief for the loved one in the grave.