Salix babylonica L., Salicaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 9 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: chui liu

English: Babylon weeping willow, weeping willow

French: saule de Babylone, saule pleureur

Spanish: sauce, sauce de Babilonia, sauce llorón

Tongan: hakoloa‘ani, uilow

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Large spreading tree to c. 30 m high; bark fissured, grey.  Smaller branches, branchlets and shoots long, slender, pendulous.  Shoots green or brownish green, rather brittle.  Shoots and leaves with appressed hairs, soon glabrous.  Buds very small, soon glabrous.  Petiole 5-8 mm long.  Lamina 6-13 x 1-2 cm, narrow-lanceolate, glaucescent or glaucous below, slightly shining above, rather remotely serrulate; apex long-acuminate.  Leaves subtending catkins generally c. 3 x c. 0.8-1 cm; apex acute or short-acuminate.  Stipules on long shoots with curved apices.  Catkins female, appearing with an after leaves on short leafy shoots, 1.5-3 cm long, narrow-cylindric, often curved; rachis villous.  Bracts 2-2.5 mm long, narrow-triangular or lanceolate-oblong, green; margin not incurved; apex acute.  Gland 1, 0.5-0.6 mm diameter, broadly rectangular or almost square, sometimes 2-lobed.  Ovary sessile, glabrous" (Webb et al., 1988; p. 1166).

Habitat/ecology:  "Heath- and shrubland, riparian habitats, freshwater wetlands.  This is a common tree of riparian habitats...and forms dense thickets along streams that shade out native riparian species and affect the invertebrate fauna of wetlands and rivers by changing and reducing the species composition and richness.  Little is known on the ecology of this tree"  (Weber, 2003; p. 378).

In Fiji, "occasionally cultivated...near sea level and infrequently naturalized at elevations up to 150 m on sand and shingle in the open at edges of creeks"  (Smith, 1981; pp. 713-714).  "In Chile this species grows in the following environmental conditions:  Low altitude, interior valleys; coastal mountains, 500-2000 m; coastal areas, 0-500 m.  The plant grows in water or it has its roots within a permanent water course, this corresponds to marshes, bogs, water courses, lake and river shores.  Fully exposed to the sun, level areas or slopes facing north"  (Chileflora).

Propagation:  "The tree spreads mainly vegetatively by root sprouts"  (Weber, 2003; p. 378).

Native range:  Asia; widespread in cultivation (Smith, 1981; pp. 713-714).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 496, 542, 557) Voucher cited: Danton I(5/187)1536. "En RC, se encuentra en el pueblo de San Juan Bautista y también en la Bahia El Pangal. Al igual que los otros sauces, se desqueja fácilmente".
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 496, 542, 557) Voucher cited: Danton G(1334)1098. "En RC, se encuentra en el pueblo de San Juan Bautista y también en la Bahia El Pangal. Al igual que los otros sauces, se desqueja fácilmente".
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (pp. 713-714) Voucher cited: Greenwood 1191
French Polynesia Society Islands	Huahine Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 257) Voucher cited: N. Kraus 1659
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 257) Voucher cited: Moore 206
French Polynesia Society Islands	Taha‘a Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 257) Voucher cited: Fosberg 63557
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 136)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 2861 (PAP) Ornementale peu commune à Tahiti.
French Polynesia Austral (Tubuai) Islands	Rurutu Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Cultivée
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 30)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 126) Voucher cited: MacKee 18114
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced cultivated	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (p. 184) Voucher cited: CHR 168693
Tonga Tonga Islands	Tonga Islands	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (pp. 713-714)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island	introduced cultivated	Yuncker, T. G. (1959) (p. 95) Vouchers cited: Hürlimann 300, Yuncker 15207

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Naturalized
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Belov, Michail (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 108) Ornamental.
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 1166) "Moist places near still or flowing water".
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 76) Cultivated only

Comments:  Sykes (1970; p. 184) found a single tree growing on Niue. Not noted in later surveys.

Additional information:
Photos and additional information at the Environment Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, web site of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
Weed Management Guide from the Government of Australia. (PDF format).
Photos and other information from Chileflora.

Additional online information about Salix babylonica is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Salix babylonica as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Salix babylonica may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Belov, Michail. 2011. Chileflora (online resource).

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 37:1-69. .

Smith, Albert C. 1981. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 2. 810 pp.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Yuncker, T. G. 1959. Plants of Tonga. Bishop Museum Bull. 220. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 343 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).