CHAPTER ELEVEN 



POPLARS 



FIG. 43. Leaves and catkins of aspen (left) and leaves of cottonwood (right). 



THE leaves of poplars, especially those called aspens, 

 quake in even a slight breeze. The sound they make 

 has been compared to the patter of rain. Secure a 

 leaf from a poplar and examine the leafstalk just below 

 the blade of the leaf. Do you understand why the 

 leaves of a poplar are stirred by even a light breeze ? 



The flowers of the poplar are borne in long, droop- 

 ing catkins which appear in early spring. The staminate 

 flowers are borne on one tree and the pistillate flowers 

 on another tree ; thus only certain trees produce seed. 

 The small seeds are provided with tufts of fine white 

 hairs. These are blown about by the wind, sometimes 

 for long distances. 



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