LXVIII. 5ALICA N CEJE : PO'PULUS. 819 



GENUS II. 



PO'FULUS Tourn. THE POPLAR. Lin. Sst. Dicecia Octandria. 



Identification. Tourn. Inst., t. 350. ; Lin. Gen., 526. ; Theo. Nees ab Esenbeck Gen. PI. Germ. 

 Illust. ; Smith's Eng. Fl., 4. p. 242. 



Synonymes. Peuplier, Fr. ; Pappel, Ger. ; Pioppo, Ital. ; Poplier, Dutch ; Alamo, Span. 



Derivation. Some suppose the word Pdpulus to be derived from pallo, or paipallo, to vibrate or 

 shake ; others, that the tree obtained its name from its being used, in ancient times, to decorate 

 the public places in Rome ; where it was called arbor popult, or the tree of the people. Bullet 

 derives the name also from populus, but says that it alludes to the leaves being easily agitated, like 

 the people. From tlie Spanish name for this tree, alamo, is derived the word alameda, the name 

 given to the public walks in Spain, from their being generally planted with poplars. 



Gen. Char., Sf-c. Bractea to the flower of each sex laciniated in its terminal 

 edge. Male flower consisting of a calyx, and 8 stamens at fewest; in many 

 instances many more. Female flower consisting of a calyx and a pistil. 

 (G.Don.) 



Leaves simple, alternate, stipulate, deciduous ; entire or serrated, with 

 the disk more or less oblate, and the petiole in most compressed in the 

 part adjoining the disk. Flowers in catkins, greenish, red, or yellow. Seed 

 cottony, ripe in a month or six weeks after the appearance of the flowers. 

 Decaying leaves yellow, yellowish green, or black. Trees deciduous ; 

 natives of Europe, Asia, or North America. 



They are all of rapid growth, some of them extremely so ; and they are all 

 remarkable for a degree of tremulous motion in their leaves, when agitated by 

 the least breath of wind. The catkins of the males of most of the species are 

 very ornamental, from the red or dark brown tinge of their anthers, and from 

 their being produced very early in spring, when the trees are leafless. The 

 females of all the species have their seeds enveloped in abundance of cottony 

 down ; which, when ripe, and the seeds are shed, adheres to every object near 

 it ; and is so like cotton wool in appearance and quality, that it has been 

 manufactured into cloth and paper, though it has been found deficient in 

 elasticity. The wood of the poplar is soft, light, and generally white, or of a 

 pale yellow. It is of but little use in the arts, except in some departments 

 of cabinet and toy making, and for boarded floors ; for which last purpose it 

 is well adapted, from its whiteness, and the facility with which it is scoured ; 

 and, also, from the difficulty with which it catches fire, and the slowness with 

 which it burns. In these respects, it is the very reverse of deal. Poplar, like 

 other soft woods, is generally considered not durable ; but this is only the case 

 when it is exposed to the changes of the external atmosphere, or to water. 

 One of the most valuable properties of the poplar is, that it will thrive in 

 towns in the closest situations ; and another is, that, from the rapidity of its 

 growth, it forms a screen for shutting out objects, and affords shelter and 

 shade sooner than any other tree. All the kinds, whether indigenous or 

 foreign, are readily propagated by cuttings or layers, and some of them by 

 suckers. The species which produce suckers may all be propagated by 

 cuttings of the roots. They all like a moist soil, rich rather than poor, parti- 

 cularly when it is near a running stream ; but none of them thrive in marshy 

 soil, as is commonly supposed, though in such situations the creeping-rooted 

 kinds are to be preferred, as living on the surface. 



*t I. P. A'LBA L. The white Poplar, or Abele Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 1463. ; Eng. FL, 4. p. 243. ; Hook. Brit. Fl., ed. 2., p. 432. 



Synonymes. P. alba latifdlia Lob. Ic. 2. p. 193. fig. 1. ; P. ma-jor Mill. Diet. 8. No. 4. ; P. nivea 

 mild. Arb. 227. ; P. &lba nivea Mart. Mill. ; the name of Leuke, given to this species by Dios- 

 corides, is still used among the modern Greeks (see Smith Prod., Sibth. Fl. Gr&ca) ; the great 

 white Poplar, great Aspen, Dutch Beech ; Peuplier blanc, Ypreau, Blanc de Hollande, Franc 

 Picard, Fr. ; Aubo, or Aoubero, in some provinces ; weisse Pappel, Silber Pappel, weisse Aspe, 

 Weissalber Baum, Ger. ; Abeelboom, Dutch. 



Derivation. The specific name of White applies to the under surface of the leaves, which, when 

 quivering in the wind, give the tree a peculiarly white appearance. The English name of Abele 



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