322 THE POPLAR. 



THE BLACK POPLAR. 



There are several of the poplars that are not easily dis- 

 tinguished, and the different and various accounts of them 

 by botanists have increased this confusion. Part of the 

 difficulty arises from the dioecious character of the poplar, 

 causing in some instances the male and female trees to 

 be mistaken for different species. This is particularly re- 

 markable in the Balm of Gilead poplar. The female tree 

 is smaller than the male, with larger leaves, and annoys us 

 by the abundance of cottony down that covers the ground 

 for a considerable space around it. The male tree is 

 taller and more spreading, and would hardly be recognized 

 as the same species. 



The Black Poplar is often planted by roadsides with 

 the Canada poplar, and may be distinguished from it 

 by the greater elegance of its proportions, its smaller 

 foliage, and, when in flower, by its reddish and purple cat- 

 kins. It is preferred to other species on account of an 

 inferior tendency to that suckering habit which is so dis- 

 agreeable in the poplar tribe. It seems to me that no 

 persons who should see the Canada poplar and the 

 Black Poplar growing side by side, would hesitate in 

 giving preference to the latter, which is in almost every 

 point a more beautiful tree. 



This species is called in Europe the Athenian Poplar. 

 According to Selby, " the classic appellation of Athenian 

 Poplar led to the supposition in England that this spe- 

 cies is indigenous to Greece, and that it derived its name 

 from the city of Minerva. Several learned botanists were 

 misled by this name ; but it was finally ascertained that 

 North America is its native country, and from its abun- 

 dance in a particular township called Athens it received 

 the imposing title of Athenian Poplar." 



