THE WILLOW AND POPLARS 



of soil, and its roots extend to a great distance. 

 Emerson found a balm of Gilead the roots of 

 which had passed under a house forty feet wide 

 and thrown up suckers on the other side. 



The wood, like that of other poplars, is soft 

 and light and is used in making paper pulp, 

 pails, and boxes. 



The specific name refers to the balsam on 

 the buds. The balm of Gilead is found in the 

 Western and Eastern States. 



Cottonwood; A large tree, 80 to 100 feet 



Necklace or high. The bark is dark gray 

 Poplar and more broken in fissures than 



Popuius deitoides ( na i f other poplars. The buds 

 are glossy and resinous, but have less balsam than 

 those of the other species. Alternate leaf scars. 

 Conspicuous five-angled pith in the small stems. 



The cottonwood is larger than the other 

 poplars, and in the Mississippi Valley it some- 

 times grows to be one hundred and fifty feet 

 high. The climate of London must be par- 

 ticularly congenial to this tree, for Emerson 

 alludes to trees there which grew thirty and 

 forty feet in only seven years. In England 

 it is called the black Italian poplar. The name 

 necklace poplar comes from the resemblance 

 of the fruit of the catkins to the beads of a 

 necklace. 



183 



