72 TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 



which is scented like balsam. Leaves: simple; alternate; ovate-lanceolate; 

 pointed at the apex and rounded or sub-cordate at the base; three-ribbed,* 

 finely serrate; bright green and shiny above, rather whitish below; glabrous. 

 Flowers : dioecious ; growing in drooping catkins, and appearing some time 

 before the leaves. Stamens : numerous. Scales of the pistillate flowers 

 recurved at the apex. 



It must be a dull heart that is not stirred by the sight of this 

 noble tree. Against the intense blue of a summer's sky its 

 great size and stately trunk make it indeed a noteworthy 

 object. It grows along the borders of streams and lakes and 

 inhabits bottom lands that have been inundated. Occasionally 

 it is found in dry soil. The fishermen of the Great Lakes know 

 the tree well. They seek the outer bark from the base of 

 old trees and use it as they would cork to float their nets. 

 The wood of the tree is brown and soft. It is made into pails, 

 tobacco boxes and also paper pulp. 



BALH OF GILEAD. HEART-LEAVED BALSAM 



POPLAR. {Plate XX VI.) 



Pdpulus cdndicans. 



Bark: greenish grey, the branches often darkly spotted. Leaf-buds: large; 

 fragrant. Leaves: simple ; alternate, with petioles that are almost round and 

 more or less hairy; broadly-ovate, or cordate, pointed at the apex and heart- 

 shaped at the base; coarsely serrate; netted-veined; the margins outlined by 

 fine white hairs. Bright green above; whitish below; pubescent along the 

 ribs and veins. Flowers : growing in catkins, similar to those of the preced- 

 ing species. 



This beautiful tree with its gracefully-shaped and abundant 

 foliage is frequently planted about dwellings and along drives. 

 It has in fact quite abandoned the forests and no longer luxuri- 

 ates in a state of wildness. Professor L. H. Bailey, however, 

 tells us that it is indigenous in Michigan and that there, it is 

 said, groves of it existed when the country was first settled. 

 Afterwards they were cut down to supply lumber. It is dis- 

 tinguished from the balsam poplar, of which it has been re- 



