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The White Willow is a willow native to Europe and western & central Asia. It is a large, deciduous tree up to 20-30 m tall. The name derives from the leaves, which are paler than most other willows, due to a covering of very fine silky white hairs. The leaves are typically 5-10 cm long and 1-1.5 cm wide. The shoots in the typical variety (var. alba) are brown to green-brown. The flowers are catkins, produced in early spring.
The Golden Willow (Salix alba var. vitellina) is a variety of the White Willow grown in gardens for its shoots, which are golden yellow for 1-2 years before turning brown. It is particularly decorative in winter; the best effect is achieved by coppicing it every 2-3 years to stimulate the production of longer young shoots with better colour. Two selected cultivars, 'Britzensis' and 'Cardinal', have orange-red shoots.
The Cricket-bat Willow (Salix alba var. caerulea) is another variety, grown as a specialist timber crop in Britain, mainly for the production of cricket bats, but also for other uses where a tough, lightweight wood that does not splinter easily, is required. It is distinguished mainly by its growth form, very fast growing with a single straight stem, and also by its slightly larger leaves (10-11 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide) with a more blue-green colour. Its origin is unknown, but it may be a hybrid between White Willow and Crack Willow (Salix fragilis).
The Weeping Willow (Salix cultivar 'Tristis') is a hybrid between White Willow and Peking Willow (Salix babylonica, syn. Salix matsudana).
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