{"slug":"salix-x-fragilis","scientific_name":"Salix × fragilis","common_names":["Crack willow","Brittle willow"],"family":"Salicaceae","type":"broadleaf_deciduous","mature_height_m":20,"mature_spread_m":15,"growth_rate":"fast","lifespan_years":80,"hardiness_zones":null,"sun":"full","water":"high","soil":"Wet riverbanks, lake margins and floodplains; any moist soil","native_range":"A hybrid willow of European and western Asian origin (POWO treats it as Salix × fragilis, S. alba × S. euxina, native to Türkiye and adjacent regions); widely planted and naturalised across Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.","description":"A broad, fast-growing willow to 25 m whose brittle twigs snap with an audible crack and root wherever they wash up, so a single tree can colonise a whole river. In Britain it is a familiar pollarded riverside tree. In New Zealand and Australia it chokes waterways, diverts flow, drops leaves that deoxygenate streams and displaces native riparian trees: it is banned from sale, propagation and distribution under the NZ National Pest Plant Accord 2020 and is a Weed of National Significance declared in every Australian state.","care":"Do not plant in New Zealand or Australia; in its naturalised European range pollard every 5 to 15 years in winter to keep it safe. Control is by cut-and-paint or stem injection of herbicide, leaving dead trees standing a year before removal so banks do not collapse; broken twigs re-root, so bag and remove them. Replace with local native riparian species.","benefits":["erosion_control","flood_tolerant","fast_canopy","pollinators"],"uses":["riparian"],"cautions":["invasive_elsewhere","weak_wood","large_roots"],"image_url":null,"image_credit":null,"sources":["https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/salix-xfragilis/","https://weeds.org.au/weeds-profiles/","https://weeds.org.au/profiles/willows-except-weeping/","https://www.gbif.org/species/5372829"],"data_note":null,"updated_at":"2026-11-08T01:00:46.205Z","page_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/salix-x-fragilis","markdown_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/salix-x-fragilis.md","regions":[{"country":"TR","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":"WCVP records the hybrid as native to Türkiye","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5372829"},{"country":"DE","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Introduced per WCVP","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5372829"},{"country":"GB","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"adapted","note":"Long naturalised and planted along rivers; introduced per WCVP","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/5372829"},{"country":"AU","region":"NSW","locality":null,"status":"prohibited","note":"Willows (except weeping, pussy and sterile pussy willow) are a Weed of National Significance declared in all states and territories","source_url":"https://weeds.org.au/profiles/willows-except-weeping/"},{"country":"AU","region":"SA","locality":null,"status":"prohibited","note":"Weed of National Significance; declared","source_url":"https://weeds.org.au/profiles/willows-except-weeping/"},{"country":"AU","region":"TAS","locality":null,"status":"prohibited","note":"Weed of National Significance; declared","source_url":"https://weeds.org.au/profiles/willows-except-weeping/"},{"country":"AU","region":"VIC","locality":null,"status":"prohibited","note":"Weed of National Significance; declared","source_url":"https://weeds.org.au/profiles/willows-except-weeping/"},{"country":"NZ","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"prohibited","note":"Listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord: an unwanted organism banned from sale, propagation and distribution; also on DOC's 2024 list of environmental weeds","source_url":"https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/salix-xfragilis/"}],"license":"CC-BY-4.0"}