TREES OF AMERICA. 159 



timber, because the wood is soft, and not du- 

 rable. 



Of American poplars there are eight kinds : 

 the first is called the Carolinian poplar, from 

 its being more common in North and South 

 Carolina than in any other parts of the coun- 

 try ; it is one of the largest, being sometimes 

 eighty feet high, and thick in proportion. 

 The leaves are smooth, and of a bright green, 

 and notched at the edge ; it is curious that 

 they are much larger on young trees than on 

 old ones ; they are heart-shaped, seven or 

 eight inches long, and about as wide in the 

 broadest part ; at the top they rise to a sharp 

 point. The bark of the young branches is 

 marked with projecting ridges of a reddish 

 colour, but these disappear as the branches 

 grow older. None of the poplars bear flowers, 

 but in the spring of the year they put forth 

 green buds, which are sometimes used in 

 dying ; the wood of the Carolinian poplar is 

 white, soft, of no value as timber, and of but 

 very little for fuel." 



" Uncle Philip, is it not with poplar buds 

 that people die eggs at Paas ?" 



"Yes, where that Dutch custom is kept up." 



" The next kind is the Canadian poplar, or, 



