1676 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



15. P. CA'NDICANS Ait. The whitish-leaved balsam-bearing, or Ontario, 



Poplar. 



Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 1., 3. p. 406., ed. 2., 5. p. 397. ; Willd. Arb., 231., Sp. PL, 806. ; 



Michx. Arb. ; North Amer. Sylva, 2. p. 239. t. 98. f. 2. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept, 2. p. 618. : Spreng. 



Syst. Veg., 2. p. 244. 

 Synonymes. P. macrophy^la Lindl. in Encyc. of Plants, p. 840., and Lodd. Cat., 1836; P. Iatif61ia 



Mcench Meth., p. 338.; P. ontari^nsis Desf. Hort. Par., and Lodd. Cat., 1836 ; P. cordata Lodd.Cat., 



1836 ; P. canadensis Mcench Weissenst., 81., but not of Michx. which is P. laevi^ata U'illd. ; Balm 



of Gilead Tree, Boston, North Amer. ; Feuplier Hard, Canada ; Peuplier a Feuilles vernisses, Fr. 

 The Sexes. The male is in the London Horticultural Society's Garden ; the female is in the Duke 



of Wellington's garden at Apsley House, London. 

 Engravings. Catesb. Car., 1. t. 34. ; Michx. Arb. ; Michx. North Amer. Sylva, 2. t. 98. f. 2. j and our 



fig. 1537. 



Spec. Char., $c. Shoot round. Bud very gummy. Stipules gummy. Pe- 

 tiole compressed in its upper part, hairy in many instances. Disk of leaf 

 heart-shaped at the base, ovate, acuminate ; serrated with blunt, unequal 

 teeth ; 3-nerved ; deep green on the upper surface, whitish on the under 

 one, on which the veins appear reticulate. Inflorescence similar to that 

 of P. balsamifera (Michx. jun., Ptirsh, Spreng., and obs.) The disk of the 

 leaf is thrice as large as that of P. balsamifera. (Michx. jun.) A tree, 

 attaining the height of 40ft. or 50ft., with a trunk 18 in. or 20 in. in 

 diameter, in the states of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hamp- 

 shire; flowering, with the balsam poplar, in March. It was introduced 

 into England in 1772, and is frequent in gardens. 



Description, fyc. The Ontario poplar bears a close general resemblance to 

 the balsam poplar : it has the rigid fastigiate habit of that tree, its fine fra- 

 grance, and its property of throwing up numerous suckers; but it differs 

 from it, in having very large heart-shaped 

 leaves, and in attaining a larger size, both 

 in its native country, and in British gardens. 

 The buds are covered with the same balsamic 

 substance as those of P. balsamifera ; and 

 the leaves are of the same fine yellow colour 

 in spring, and, like those of the balsam poplar, 

 preserve, at all stages of their growth, the 

 same shape. The foliage, when mature, is 

 tufted, and of a dark green ; the disposition 

 of the branches is somewhat rigid and irregu- 

 lar; which last circumstance prevents the 

 foliage from massing well together, and gives 

 the tree rather an inelegant appearance. The 

 trunk is covered with a smooth greenish 

 bark, which becomes darker with age; the 



wood is soft; and, like that of the balsam poplar, is chiefly valuable for 

 producing potash. Michaux never found the tree in forests in America, 

 nor was he able to discover where it was indigenous ; but he found it 

 growing commonly before houses, both in the towns and country. Pursh 

 mentions New England as the place where he had seen it in a living state. In 

 British gardens, it has very frequently been confounded with the balsam 

 poplar ; and the same thing, Bosc informs us, often happens in France. Bosc 

 strongly recommends this tree for its shade, and the fragrance with which 

 it perfumes the air in spring. It is readily propagated by cuttings or suckers, 

 but will not attain a large size unless on rich soil near water ; though, as the 

 roots creep along the surface, the soil need not be deep. 



Statistics. In England, in Buckinghamshire, at Temple House, 40 years planted, it is 70ft. high ; 

 the diameter of the trunk 2ft., and of the head 30ft. ; in Durham, at Southend, 7 years planted, it 

 is 20ft. high ; in Hertfordshire, at Cheshunt, 18 years planted, it is 45ft. high ; in Nottingham- 

 shire, at Clumber Park, 10 years planted, it is 48 ft. high ; in Warwickshire, at Whitley Abbey, 

 7 years planted, it is 24 ft. high. In Scotland, near Edinburgh, at the Experimental Garden, Inver- 

 leith, 9 years planted, it is 23ft. high ; in Fifeshire, at Danibristle Park, 9 years planted, it is 23 ft. 

 high ; in Stirlingshire, at Callender Park, 16 years planted, it is 70 ft. high In Ireland at Dublin, 

 in the Glasnevin Botanic Garden, 30 years planted, it is 30 ft. high. In Germany, at Vienna, in 

 the garden of Baron Loudon, 30 years old, it is 24ft. high. Price of plants as in P. balsamffera. 



1537 



