Editing Willow (section)

=== Hybrids and cultivars ===
[[File:Weeping Willow by Pond.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Weeping willow]], an example of a hybrid between two types of willow]]
Willows are very cross-compatible, and numerous [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]] occur, both naturally and in cultivation. A well-known [[ornamental plant|ornamental]] example is the [[weeping willow]] (''Salix × sepulcralis''), which is a hybrid of Peking willow (''[[Salix babylonica]]'') from China and white willow (''Salix alba'') from Europe. The widely planted Chinese willow ''[[Salix matsudana]]'' is now considered a synonym of ''S. babylonica''.

Numerous cultivars of ''Salix'' have been developed and named over the centuries. New selections of cultivars with superior technical and ornamental characteristics have been chosen deliberately and applied to various purposes. Many [[cultivar]]s and unmodified species of ''Salix'' have gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]].<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=March 2020 |title=AGM Plants March 2020 |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=9 September 2020 |website=rhs.org |publisher=The Royal Horticultural Society}}</ref> Most recently, ''Salix'' has become an important source for bioenergy production and for various [[ecosystem service]]s.{{Cn|date=June 2023}}

Names of hybrids and cultivars were until recently (2021) compiled<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kuzovkina |first1=Yulia A. |title=Compilation of the Checklist for Cultivars of Salix L. (Willow) |journal=HortScience |date=2015 |volume=50 |issue=11 |pages=1608–1609 |doi=10.21273/HORTSCI.50.11.1608 |s2cid=86246413 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285457884|doi-access=free }}</ref> by a working party of the UN FAO, the [http://www.fao.org/forestry/ipc/69637/en/ International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRAs) for the genus ''Salix'' (willows)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207102758/http://www.fao.org/forestry/ipc/69637/en/ |date=7 December 2018 }}, but it is no longer active.