euxina ‘Bullata’

There is a plant in the North American trade labeled Salix fragilis ‘Bullata’ and I have purchased plants under this name, but they’re always mislabelled. They turn out to be Salix xfragilis; one such plant developed androgynous catkins, a certain sign of hybridity! I now have plants from cuttings from the Ottawa tree at right and it has a totally different habit and appearance from Salix x fragilis selections in the nursery. As you can see it grows into a simply spectacular specimen tree. Best if grown with a single trunk by allowing one shoot to grow straight without pruning and by removing all side branches. Probably worth staking for the first 3-4 years to ensure a straight trunk. Cuttings root very easily and the plants grow lustily, so it will take a little work to grow a single stem tree. As the species Salix euxina originated in the Caucasus area of Southeast Europe (Turkey, Georgia and Russia), it is most likely that the ‘Bullata’ selection appeared in the same area and was taken to Northern European by travelers in the 18thC impressed by the beauty and uniqueness of the tree.