CHAP. cm. 5ALICA^CE^. PO'PULUS. 1673 



the trunks of trees of this kind, in North America, are covered with a very 

 thick and deeply furrowed bark. The young branches and the annual 

 shoots are round, instead of being angular, like those of P. angulata, P. 

 canadensis, and P. monilifera. The leaves, while very young, are covered 

 with a thick white down, which gradually disappears with age, till the leaves 

 at last become perfectly smooth above, and slightly downy beneath. They 

 are borne on long petioles ; the disks are often 6 in. in length, and as much in 

 breadth ; of a thick nature, denticulated and heart-shaped, with the lobes of 

 the base lapped, so as to conceal the junction of the petiole. The catkins 

 are drooping, and about 3 in. long, which is about half the length of those of 

 P. angulata. " The wood," Michaux adds, " is soft and light, with the heart 

 yellowish, and inclining to red; and the young branches are filled with a pith 

 of the same colour. The tree is said to flourish in France, where, as in 

 America, its wood is held in little esteem. Both in French and British nur- 

 series, it is propagated only by inarching and by layers. It well deserves 

 culture as an ornamental tree, in rich moist soil, in a sheltered situation, 

 where its large leaves will not be in danger of being torn by the wind. The 

 male catkins are produced in great abundance ; and, being very thick, though 

 not very long, they make a fine appearance, from their rich brownish red and 

 yellow colour. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 2*. 6rf. each; at Boll- 

 wyller, 2 francs ; and at New York, 20 cents. 



3f l*. P. balsami'fera L. The balsam-bearing Poplar, or Tacamahac 



Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Syst. Veg., 45., Mat. Med., 215. ; Pall. FI. Ross., 1. p. 67. t. 41. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 



2., 5. p. 397. ; Willd. Arb., 230., Sp. PI., 4. p. 805. ; Michx. Arb., 3. ; North Amer. Sylva, 2. p. 237. 

 t. 98. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 618. 



Synonymes. P. Tacamahdca Mill. Diet., No. 6. ; the Tacamahac, Amer. ; le Baumier, Fr. ; Peuplier 

 liard, and also Tacamahac, in Canada ; Balsam Pappel, Ger. 



The Sexes. Plants of the male are in English gardens. The female is figured in Pallas's Flora Bos- 

 sica, 1. t. 41. One or two flowers, clearly bisexual, have been found in a catkin of otherwise male 

 flowers, borne by a tree in the Botanic Garden at Bury St. Edmunds, previously to 1830, which 

 bore, at the same time, other catkins of male flowers. Miller mentions that a tree in the Chelsea 

 Botanic fiarden also produced both male and female flowers. 



Engravings. Michx. Arb., 3. t. 13. f. 1. ; North Amer. Sylva, 2. t. 98. f. 1. ; Du Ham. Arb., ed. nov., 

 2. t. 50. ; Pall. FL Ross., 1. t. 41. ; Wangh. Amer., t. £8. f. 59. ; Trew Ehret., t. 46. ; Catesb. Car., 



1. 1. 34. ; Gmel. Sib., 1. t. 33. ; Pluk. Aim., t. 281. f. 1. ; oux Jig. 1535. of the male plant ; Jig. 1536. of 

 the female ; and the plate of this tree in our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., S^c. Shoot round. Bud very gummy. Petiole round. Disk of 

 leaf ovate-acuminate, or ovate-lanceolate, serrated with adpressed teeth ; 

 deep green on the upper surface, whitish on the under one, and tomentose 

 there, but rather inconspicuously so, and netted with glabrous veins. Sti- 

 pules subspinescent, bearing gum. Stamens 16, or more. (^Willd.y Michx. 

 JH72., and obs.) A tree, a native of North America, and in Dahuria and 

 Altai. It was cultivated in England as early as 1692, in the Royal Gardens 

 at Hampton Court. (^Ait. Hort. Kew.) It flowers in March, in North 

 America {Pursh); in April, in England {Ait. Hort. Kew.); and the 

 female, in Dahuria, in May. {Pallas.) In the climate of London, according 

 to Miller, the male flowers come out in long catkins in April and May, and 

 fall off soon after : their stamens are numerous, irregular in height, and 

 crowned with bearded anthers of a purple colour. The hermaphrodite 

 flowers are produced at the end of the shoots, upon long slender peduncles, 

 in very loose catkins, having a leafy involucre under each, which is oval 

 and entire; and from the bosom of that arises the peduncle, which is very 

 short. LTpon the top is placed the petal, or calyx (or nectary, according 

 to Linnaeus), shaped like a wide cup, having a style in the centre, and two 

 stamens on one side, terminated by pyramidal purple anthers. The female 

 flowers are succeeded by oval capsules, terminating in a point, and en- 

 closing downy seeds. {Mart. Milt.) 



Varieties. 



tif P. 5. 2 viminalis ; P. viminalis Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836 ; P. ralicifolia Hort. ; 

 P. longifolia Fischer, Pall. Ross., t. 41. B; is a native of Altai, with 



