CHAP. cm. 



^alica'ce^. po'pulus. 



1639 



of Leuke, given to this species by Dioscorides, is still useil among tlic modern Greeks. (See S7)iit/i 

 Prod., Sibth.Fl. Gra-ca.) The "great white Poplar, great Aspen, Dutch Beech ; Peuplier blanc, 

 Ypreau, Blanc de Hollande, Franc Picard, Fr. ; Aubo, or Aoubero, in some provmces; weisse 

 Pappel, Silber Pappcl, weisse Aspe, Weissalber Baum, Gcr. ; Abeelboom, Lhctch. 



Derivation. The specific name of White applies to the under surface of the leaves, which, when 

 quivering in the wind, give the tree a peculiarly white appearance. The English name of Abele 

 is derived from the Dutch name of the tree, Abeel; and this name is supposed by some to he taken 

 from that of the city of Arbela, in the plains of Nineveh, near which, on the banks of the Tigris 

 and Euphrates, great numbers of these trees grew. It is said to be the same tree as that mentioned 

 in the Bible as Abel-shittim, Chittira, Shittim-wood, ami Kittim. The Dutch Beech is an old 

 name, given to this tree, as we are informed bv Hartlib, in his Co:>ipleat Husbandman (1C59), on 

 account of ten thousand trees of it having been brought over all at once from Flanders, and planted 

 in the countrv places; where the people, not knowing what they were, called them Dutch beech 

 trees. The French name of Ypreau alludes to the tree being found in great abundance near the 

 townofYpres. „ ■■, . -.r , ^ ,.,« 



Engravings. Eng. Bot., 1. 1618. ; Ger. Em., 1488. ; Bauh. Hist., 1. p. 160. ; Matth. Valg , 1. p 123. 

 fig. ; ctm. Epit , 65. fig. ; Dod. Pempt., 835. fig. ; Dalech. Hist., 86. fig. ; Hayne Abbild.,t. 202. ; 

 ourji?/f. 1507. : and the plate of this tree in our last 'Volume. ... 



The Sexes. Both sexes are described in the English Flera, and are not unfrequent in plantations 

 Trees of both are in the Horticultural Society's Garden. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Leaves lobed and toothed ; some- 

 what heart-shaped at the base ; snow-white, and 



densely downy beneath. Catkins of the female 



plant ovate. Stigmas 4. (Smith Eng. Fl.) 



Root creeping, and producing numerous suckers. 



Branches very white, aj|d densely downy when 



young. Leaves angular, and generally with three 



principal lobes, variously and unequally toothed, 



blunt-pointed, veiny; dark green and smooth 



above, and covered with a thick remarkably white 



down beneath. The leaves vary very much in 



form ; and on young luxuriant branches they are 



almost palmate. The tree is a native of most 



parts of Europe, and is usually found in woods or thickets, in rather moist 



soil. It grows to the height of 80 ft. or 90 ft., and flowers in March. 

 Varieties. These are numerous, but the principal one, P. (a.) canescens, 



being generally considered as a species, we shall first give it as such; 



and next enumerate the varieties which belong to it and to P. alba. 



2 2. P. (a.) cane'scens Smith. The grey, or common white. Poplar. 



Identification. Smith Fl. Brit., p. 1080. ; Eng. Bot., t. 1619. ; Eng. Fl., 4. p. 243. ; WiUd. Sp. PI., 



4. p. 802. ; Michx. North Amer. Sylva, 2. p. 245. t. 100. 

 Synonymes. P. alba Mill. Diet., ed. 8., No. ]., IVilld. Arb., 227. ; P. alba fuliis mi-noribus Hah 



Syn., i-16,, Ger. Em., 148. fig.. Lob. Ic.,2. 193. fi^. ; P. alba fblio minbre Bauh. flist.,v. 1. p. 2. 



160. fig. ; P. No. 1634. /3 Ha/l. Hist., 2. 303. ; Peuplier grisaille, Fr. 

 The Sexes. Only the female plant is expressly described in the English Flora. The plant in the 



Horticultural Society's Garden is the male. 

 Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1619. ; Michx. North Amer. Sylva, t. 100. ; Hayne Abbild., t. 201. ; N. 



Du Ham., 2. fig. 52., as P. alba ; and our fig. 1508. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Leaves roundish, deeply waved, toothed ; hoary and downy 

 beneath. Catkins of the female plant cylindrical. Stigmas 8. (Smith m 

 Eng. Fl.) It is essentially distinguished from P. alba, as Mr. Crowe first 

 discovered, by the stigmas, which are 8, spreading in two opposite di- 

 rections. The bracteas of the fertile flowers are, also, more deeply and re- 

 gularly cut. The branches are more upright and compact. The leaves are 

 rounder, more conspicuously 3-ribbed, and less deeply or acutely lobed. 

 They are downy beneath ; but the down is chiefly greyish, and not so white 

 or cottony as in P. alba: in some instances the leaves are glabrous. 

 (Smith.) 'Smith has described the root as creeping as extensively as that of 

 P. alba. P. canescens is found wild in " wet ground in England, France, and 

 Germany ; sometimes also on open elevated spots, where the soil is loamy." 

 (Smith in Ree-s's Cycl.) It grows to about the same height as P. alba, and 

 flowers in March. " Mr. Crowe was very instrumental in bringing this tree 

 into notice in Norfolk. He observed it to be of slower growth than P. 

 alba. The wood, though till lately it was but little used or distinguished, is 

 much firmer than that of any other British poplar ; making as good floors 

 as the best Norway fir in appearance ; having, moreover, the valuable pro- 



