balfourii

A deliberate cross made in Scotland by the botanist E. F. Linton in the late 19th century and named after the eminent Scottish botanist John Hutton Balfour. Linton crossed two European species–the Goat Willow (Salix caprea) and the superb dwarf Woolly Willow (Salix lanata). The large, abundant male catkins appear before the leaves and put on quite a show. These are followed by large gray-green leaves that are resplendent in their own right.