VIII. 1. THE AMERICAN ASPEN POPLAR. 243 



head at the general level of the tops of the trees. When grow- 

 ing on the edge of a wood or lake, or by itself, it is commonly 

 forty or fifty feet high, with an open and rather graceful head, 

 forming a beautiful object from the soft green of the trunk, 

 the lightness of the branches, and the mobility of the foliage. 

 The wood is soft and light and of no great value. 



When, in the time of our grandmothers, fashion required that 

 a lady should seem somewhat taller than nature made her, the 

 light wood of this poplar was in demand, as best adapted for 

 the substance of the high heel of their shoes, and the manufac- 

 ture constituted a distinct trade. The more substantial heel of 

 the shoes of the lower people was made of more durable and 

 heavier maple. The wood was also extensively used in the 

 manufacture of hats, before the palm-leaf was introduced. 



When dry, it is considered equal to pine as fuel. This poplar 

 is found from New Brunswick and the borders of Lake Huron, 

 through the New England and Middle States, to the mountains 

 of Georgia. 



Sp. 2. The American Aspen. P. ircmuliformis.* 



Michaux. 



A leaf and sterile ament are figured by Michaux, Sylva, IT, Plate 99, fig. 1. 



This is a small, graceful tree, from twenty to forty feet high, 

 with a gradually tapering trunk, and small branches moder- 

 ately spreading. The trunk is covered with a white clay- 

 colored bark, with long blotches of very dark brown, particu- 

 larly below each branch, in a triangular space, from the upper 

 angle of which the branch issues. 



The recent shoots are of a dark, polished bronze green, which 

 is gradually changed, by the influence of light, on the larger 

 branches, to the clay color for which the trunk is remarkable. 

 The branches are, therefore, darker colored beneath. The leafy 

 branchlets are short, and go off at a large angle. 



* The word tremuloides, as Mr. E. Tuckerman has remarked, is a barbarous com- 

 pound of Latin and Greek, and ought not to be retained. Tremuliformis is the 

 word which Michaux should have used, as he meant to express the resemblance 

 which our aspen has to the P. tremula. 



