254 



SYLVA AMERICANA. 



aments are six or eight inches long, flexible and pendulous. 

 The seeds are surrounded with a beautiful plume which has the 

 whiteness of cotton, and the young buds are coated with a resinous, 

 aromatic substance of an agreeable odor. 



The cotton wood is a more picturesque tree than the Virginian 

 poplar, particularly when growing on the sides of rivers. Its 

 trunk is very plainly sulcated even in its old age. It is less so 

 than the Carolinian poplar, but far more so than the Virginian 

 poplar, whose trunk is rounder and its summit more spherical. 

 Hence the two species are easily distinguished. The cotton 

 wood, also, acquires a larger bulk. This wood is assigned to no 

 particular use in the arts or for fuel. 



Heart-Leaved Balsam Poplar. Popidus candicans. 



In the state of Rhode 

 Island, Massachusetts and 

 New Hampshire, this tree, 

 which is a genuine Balsam 

 Poplar, is commonly seen 

 growing before the houses, 

 less as an ornament than as 

 a shelter from the sun. It 

 is not found in the forests of 

 these states. 



This tree attains the height 

 of 40 or 50 feet, with a 

 diameter of 18 or 20 inches. 

 The trunk is clad in a 

 smooth, greenish bark. The 

 foliage is tufted and of a 

 dark green tint, but the 

 irregular disposition of the branches gives an elegant appearance 

 to the tree. The buds, like those of the balsam poplar, are 

 covered, in the spring, with a resinous, balsamic substance of an 

 agreeable odor. 



The wood of this tree is soft, light and is appropriated to no 

 use in the arts and is little esteemed for fuel. 



PLATE IsXXI. 

 Fieure 1. A leaf. 



