TREES OF NORTH CAROLINA 29 



22. Populus deltoides Marsh. Carolina Poplar or 



Cotton-wood. 



Leaves heart-shaped, large 4-7 inches long, and 

 nearly or quite as broad, smooth and shining on both 

 sides, with many rounded teeth, drooping and tremb- 

 ling, on long leaf-stalks; bark rather smooth and 

 light; fruit a small, pointed pod with silky-hairy 

 seeds. The Carolina Poplar is given by Pinchot and 

 Ashe as appearing in the Piedmont Plateau and they 

 do not refer it to any other section of the state, but 

 Curtis says it is abundant in the lower sections of the 

 Southern States. According to our observations it 

 is most common in the coastal plain, and enters spar- 

 ingly into the Piedmont. It is wild in swamps near 

 Charlotte (Brier Creek), but has not been found in 

 Orange County. This is the poplar that is so much 

 planted for quick effect in streets and lawns. It is 

 short-lived and easily broken, and should give place 

 to better kinds. 



23. Populus heterophylla L. Cotton-wood. 



A tall, fine tree of the deep swamps in the coast 

 region, at present certainly known only from the 

 lower Cape Fear, and from Pender County, but prob- 

 ably present in similar swamps in many other 

 places in the eastern half of the state. Leaves ovate 

 with long points, 6-8 inches long, and about 4-5 

 inches wide, hear^shaped at the base, regularly tooth- 

 ed, densely coated below with long tawny down when 

 young, becoming less downy in age. 



