Weeping willow leaves are long and narrow, with tiny teeth along the whole edge and a tip drawn out into a long, thin point. They are light green on top and pale underneath.
Introduced · Up to 24 m
Weeping willow
Salix × sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma' · Salicaceae
Weeping willow is a broad, domed tree planted in parks and gardens and beside water. Its long shoots hang straight down, all the way to their tips.
Know it byLeavesLong, narrow leaves with tiny teeth and a thin point.
ShapeA broad, rounded crown, its twigs hanging straight down.
Winter twigsBare hanging twigs that show gold in winter sun.
LeavesLong, narrow leaves with tiny teeth and a thin point.ShapeA broad, rounded crown, its twigs hanging straight down.Winter twigsBare hanging twigs that show gold in winter sun.Then check · BarkPale greyish brown, with deep ridges that cross and join in a diamond pattern.
How to identify a weeping willow
Long, thin twigs hang straight down from the whole of a broad, rounded crown, all the way to their tips. In the open the tree is often wider than it is tall.
Once the leaves are off, the long hanging twigs show gold in the sun. The colour comes in on older wood and stays for years.
Learn the weeping willow in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely
Every part, in photographs
Matthew Vosper, CC BY 4.0
Michelle Norcéide, CC BY 4.0
jamie-aa, CC BY 4.0
ramarao, CC BY 4.0When to look
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In leaf
Catkins
In leaf: March to December · Catkins: March to April
Every tree on the calendar · How to identify trees in winter
Where you’ll find it
Parks and gardens, and the edges of lakes, ponds, rivers and canals. It is common in the warmer south, and scarcer in Scotland and northern England. Its roots can cause trouble in drains, so it is planted away from buildings.
What it’s mistaken for
- White willowBoth are big willows near water with narrow leaves. Leaf. Weeping willow: smooth, pale and waxy. White willow: silky white hairs, kept all season.
- Crack willowBoth are large willows that grow by water. Shape. Weeping willow: broad dome, hung all over with falling shoots. Crack willow: swinging out wide into a broad open crown.
In the app
There’s more of the weeping willow in Treely
- Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
- Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
- A short round each dayUntil you know the weeping willow on sight, from any side
- Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.
Photographs: ramarao (CC BY 4.0), truthseqr (CC0), ellieandmaddie (CC0), Владимир Дворкин (CC BY 4.0), dan308 (CC0), Matthew Vosper (CC BY 4.0), Michelle Norcéide (CC BY 4.0), jamie-aa (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.