Weeping Willow

Weeping willow (tree) is an ornamental tree (Salix babylonica and related hybrids)

Weeping willow or Weeping Willows may also refer to:

Persons

Film and television

Music

Salix babylonica

Salix babylonica (Babylon willow or weeping willow; Chinese: 垂柳) is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southwest Asia and Europe.

Description

Salix babylonica is a medium- to large-sized deciduous tree, growing up to 20–25 m (66–82 ft) tall. It grows rapidly, but has a short lifespan, between 40 to 75 years. The shoots are yellowish-brown, with small buds. The leaves are alternate and spirally arranged, narrow, light green, 4–16 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad, with finely serrate margins and long acuminate tips; they turn a gold-yellow in autumn. The flowers are arranged in catkins produced early in the spring; it is dioecious, with the male and female catkins on separate trees.

Male flowers of Salix babylonica

Male flowers of Salix babylonica

Pendulous branchlets of Salix babylonica

Pendulous branchlets of Salix babylonica

Bark of Salix babylonica

Bark of Salix babylonica

Weeping Willow (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)

"Weeping Willow" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on November 8, 2006. In the episode, a teenage blogger nicknamed WeepingWillow17, played by guest star Michelle Trachtenberg, is apparently kidnapped during the filming of one of her Internet videos. Detectives Mike Logan and Megan Wheeler investigate the so-called "cyber-kidnapping", which they and the public speculate may be an elaborate Internet hoax.

The episode and character was written by Stephanie Sengupta and Warren Leight, and directed by Tom DiCillo. The story and the WeepingWillow17 character were inspired by the lonelygirl15 video blogs on YouTube, which were originally believed the works of a real-life 15-year-old blogger, but were eventually discovered to be a professionally filmed hoax. The episode received generally positive reviews and, according to Nielsen ratings, was seen by 9.8 million households the week it aired, the most viewership for a Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode in six weeks.