164 THE BLACK POPLAR. 



advantage for packing-cases. Being very light, it is made 

 into the rollers used by linendrapers ; and on account of 

 its uninflammable properties, more than its extreme white- 

 ness, it is well adapted for flooring rooms. 



The White Poplar is propagated either by cuttings, by 

 layers, or by suckers, which rise in great numbers from the 

 roots. 



THE BLACK POPLAR. 



POPULUS NIGRA. 



THE Black Poplar, according to Dr. Hunter, derives its 

 name from a black circle perceptible at the centre of its 

 trunk when felled ; Loudon seems to think that it received 

 the name from the dark colour of its bark ; but it is far 

 more probable that it was originally so called from its 

 having darker foliage than the White Poplar. It may 

 well be distinguished from the other British species by its 

 pointed and slightly notched leaves, which are smooth on 

 both sides. 



It was known to Pliny, who recommends it to be planted 

 as a support for vines, a purpose to which, owing to the 

 scantiness of its foliage, it is well adapted. An ancient 

 fable in Eoman mythology relates that Phaeton, having 

 obtained permission from his father to drive the horses of 

 the Sun for a day, became terrified, and that Jupiter, to 

 prevent a general conflagration, hurled him from his 

 chariot into the river Po, where he was drowned. His 

 sisters wandered up and down the banks inconsolable for 

 his loss, till they were converted into Poplars, and wept 

 amber for tears. 



" Nor must the Heliads' fate in silence pass, 

 Whose sorrow first produced the poplar race : 

 Their tears, while at a brother's grave they mourn, 

 To golden drops of fragrant amber turn. " 



