128 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



instances. The rapidly growing young twigs bear 

 leaves which sometimes measure eight inches in 



length. However, it 

 must not be forgotten 

 that the seedlings and 

 young shoots of all 

 trees frequently pro- 

 duce leaves of an 

 abnormal size, if we 

 take the leaf of an old 

 tree as a standard. 

 Balsam Poplar. The leaf of the balsam 

 acama ac. p pi arj or tacamahac, is a 



Populus 



bahamifera, great remove from its 

 Populus suaveohns. trembling relative. It 



hardly resembles it in any particular, if 

 I except the white back. Above, the 

 color is a somewhat yellowish green ; be- 

 low, it is whitish, like that of all other poplar leaves. 

 The outline is distinctly egg-shaped, but pointed, 

 and is finely but obtusely toothed. Prof. Bailey 

 speaks of this tree as the most variable of all the 

 poplars cultivated in this country. He says it is rep- 

 resented by three marked varieties, " differing from 

 the species and from each other in the habit of growth, 

 shape and color of leaves, and character of twigs." The 

 tree grows from 40 to 70 feet high, has a pyramidal 



Cottonwood. 



