POPULUS DELTOIDES, MARSH. 35 



surmounted by a noble, broad-spreading, open, symmetrical 

 head, the lower branches massive, horizontal, or slightly 

 ascending, more or less pendulous at the extremities, the 

 upper coarse and spreading, rising at a sharper angle ; branch- 

 lets stout; foliage brilliant green, easily set in motion; the 

 sterile trees gorgeous in spring with dark red pendent catkins. 



Bark. In old trees thick, ash-gray, separated into deep, 

 straight furrows with rounded ridges ; in young trees light 

 yellowish-green, smooth; season's shoots greenish, marked 

 with pale longitudinal lines. 



Winter Buds and Leaves. Buds large, conical, smooth, 

 shining. Leaves 3-6 inches long, scarcely less in width, vari- 

 able in color and shape, ordinarily dark green and shining 

 above, lighter beneath, ribs raised on both sides ; outline 

 broadly ovate, irregularly crenate-toothed ; apex abruptly acute 

 or acuminate ; base truncate, slightly heart-shaped or some- 

 times acute ; stems long, slender, somewhat flattened at right 

 angles to the plane of the blade ; stipules linear, soon falling. 



Inflorescence. April to May. In solitary, densely flowered 

 catkins ; bracts lacerate-f ringed, each bract subtending a cup- 

 shaped scale ; stamens very numerous ; anthers longer than 

 the filaments, dark red : fertile catkins elongating to 5 or 6 

 inches ; ovary ovoid ; stigmas 3 or 4, nearly sessile, spreading. 



Fruit. Capsules ovate, rough, short-stalked : seeds densely 

 cottony. 



Horticultural Value. Hardy in southern-central New Eng- 

 land ; grows rapidly in almost any soil and is readily obtain- 

 able in nurseries. Where an immediate effect is desired, the 

 Cottonwood serves the purpose excellently and frequently 

 makes very fine large individual trees, but the wood is soft 

 and likely to be broken by wind or ice. Usually propagated 

 from cuttings. 



Plate XVII. Populus deltoides. 



1. Winter buds. 5. Scale of sterile flower. 



2. Branch with sterile catkins. 6. Fertile flower. 



3. Sterile flower, hack view. 7. Fruiting catkin. 



4. Sterile flower, front view. 8. Branch with mature leaves. 



9. Variant leaf. 



