246 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



THE CAROLINA POPLAR.* 



BY CHARLES E. BESSEY. 



In the west, especially in the Mississippi valley, a tree has been largely 

 advertised and sold under the name of Carolina Poplar. In some cases 

 extravagant claims are made in regard to its good qualities, which, on 

 the other hand, are strenuously denied by some tree growers. There 

 has been a good deal of doubt, also, in regard to the specific identity of 

 the tree, some holding it to be quite distinct from the common cotton- 

 wood, while others regard it as a mere variation or sport of that species 

 which has been propagated by cuttings from the stamitiate tree. In 

 order to throw some light upon these questions, the following facts are 

 now published as a preliminary paper, which may be followed by a more 

 exhaustive discussion later. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE TREE. 



Leaves. — These are large, broadly heart-shaped, prominently serrated 

 with incurved teeth, the veins rather prominent on the under surface. 

 The texture is firm, and both surfaces are quite smooth. The color 

 of the foliage is a rich, dark green, and the petioles, which are long 

 and flattened, are more or less reddish, as is frequently, also, the midrib 

 of the blade. On vigorous shoots, the leaves are often five to seven 

 inches long, four inches broad, and their petioles fully three inches 

 long, while on less vigorous shoots, the leaves may be as small as three 

 inches in length, three in breadth, and their slender petioles may be 

 no more than two inches long. 



Twigs. — More or less angled by narrow, corky ridges which extend 

 downward from the center and sides of the leaves. Color when mature, 

 light brown. The angles are much more prominent on very vigorous 

 twigs, and may be almost wanting on those which are slow-growing. 



Young Branches. — These eventually become smooth and round by the 

 expansion and stretching of the bark as the branch increases in thick- 

 ness. Color, light brown. This brownish color should serve to dis- 

 tinguish the Carolina Poplar from the common cottonwood, on which 

 the young branches ultimately become white. 



Shape of Crown. — The crown or "top" of this tree is rather narrow 

 on account of the more erect growth of the branches. Left to them- 

 selves, the branches of the crown tend to grow upward somewhat as in 



* This paper was originally prepared at the request of the United 

 States Forest Service, and was then printed in a somewhat revised form, 

 with the permission of the chief of the service, in the Report of the 

 Nebraska State Board of Agriculture for 1906-1907. It is now reprinted 

 with some revision and slight changes, the importance of this tree to 

 Nebraska planters warranting this early reissue. 



