In his 1973 article, Skvortsov called "the true brittle willow,
S. fragilis" the willow that had come unnoticed to Europe from Asia Minor
with human migrations, hybridized with the native white willow,
and inflicted the mess. For the next 35 years botanists
remained undecided about the solution of the surfaced problem.
Finally, it was decided that the name "brittle willow" should
remain with the hybrid, so that scientists
in each European country did not have to re-write their
"floras," while the previously overlooked parent species
from Asia Minor was described only in 2009 and received the
name "S. euxina." That's why we now have to put down an "x" in front of the
Latin name of brittle willow.