AMERICAN FOREST 



both belong to the same family. The latter is a Pacific coast species, while the former 

 belongs in Europe, although it may have been introduced into that country from 

 Persia or some other eastern region. It is common in the United States, on account 

 of having escaped from cultivation. The best known variety of this tree is the Lom- 

 bardy poplar (Populus nigra italica). It is easily recognized by the characteristic 

 attitude of the branches which grow upward close against the trunk. The crowns 

 of the trees are very long and slender, sometimes not ten feet across though fifty feet 

 high. Their slimness gives the trees the appearance of being much taller than they 

 really are. They were formerly popular for planting along lanes and in door yards. 

 Their slender and pointed spires cut the horizon with a peculiar effect. Planting is 

 less common now than formerly, because people have come to know the trees better. 

 They are probably the most limby of all the members of the cottonwood group. 

 The long trunks are masses of knots when the limbs have been trimmed away, and 

 any desire to make lumber of the trees is apt to be discouraged, though not in- 

 frequently logs go to local sawmills, and farmers haul the boards home to put them 

 to some use about the place. In Michigan and Ohio, box makers use the lumber 

 for the rougher and cheaper articles which they turn out. 



The most discouraging thing about Lombardy poplar is the tendency of the 

 trees to send up sprouts. The living trees do it, and the stumps are worse. The 

 sprouts are not confined to the ground immediately round the base of the tree, but 

 spring up many feet or many yards distant, until they produce a veritable jungle. 

 Years are often required to complete their extermination by grubbing and cutting. 



WHITE POPLAR (Populus alba) is a European species but has become naturaliz- 

 ed in the United States. It is widely planted as a shade tree, and has escaped from 

 cultivation. It may be known by the white undersides of its small leaves, and by its 

 yellowish-green bark which remains smooth, except on large trunks. It is not yet 

 important as a source of lumber, but the vigor of its growth indicates that it may 

 sometime become so. The wood is soft, white, and light. Some persons consider 

 the tree objectionable as an ornament because of its habit of sending up sprouts 

 from the roots, and because its woolly leaves collect dust and smoke until they are 

 almost black by the end of summer. 



