330 



THE NATURE BOOK 



a somewhat ungainly tree, awkwardly 

 branched, straggling and lop-sided. It 

 possesses a large crown abundantly clothed 

 with foliage, but has a light and airy 

 appearance from the clear green of its 

 lea\-es, and their constant swaying motion. 

 In this respect it is characterised by a 

 like tremulousness, with the sustained 

 rustling, of the Aspen. It is not a native 

 tree, but is said to have been introduced 

 into this country about the middle of the 

 eighteenth century. 



The hark is dark grey, rough from \-ery 

 earl}' in life, becoming extremely so later, 

 with huge irregular swellings that give it 

 a cankered appearance. The winter twigs 

 are yellowish brown in colour, slender, 

 cylindrical, hairless and glossy. The rest- 

 ing buds, arranged spirally on the twig, 

 are long, tapering to a point, somewhat 

 incurved so as to press against the twig, 

 but with the points free. They are hea\ily 

 coated with balsam. The leaves are vari- 

 able in form, particularly at the lower 

 end, where they may be rounded or 

 wedge-shaped ; otherwise the general 

 outUne is triangular with long drawn- 



TKI 



liAKK OF BLACK HOHLAK 



out drip-point. Their mar- 

 gins are regularly toothed, 

 and their colour is a light 

 fresh green. A peculiarity 

 which is rare amongst our 

 trees is that these leaves 

 have practically the same 

 tint on both upper and 

 under surfaces. When first 

 put forth their colour is 

 bronze, changing to yellow ; 

 and a tree freshly in leaf, 

 seen from a distance, looks 

 as though it were covered 

 with bright yellow blossoms. ?f1 



The leaf-stalks are flat- 

 tened sideways, as are those 

 of the Aspen. These so 

 bend over that the posture 

 of the leaves suspended 

 from them is vertical, even 

 on the upright shoots. In 

 consequence their upper 

 surface is always presented 

 to view, and their habitual 

 side-swing helps probably 

 to counteract the effect of 

 any shade that may arise 

 from the overlapping of 

 neighbouring leaves. The 

 catkins are more loosely ; 

 constructed than those winter twig 



^f +1 4^u T) 1 OF BLACK 



of the other Poplars, poplar 



and are without hairs. 

 They are produced high up in the tree. 

 The pollen-bearing catkins are a brilliant 

 red. the fruit-producing catkins green. 



THE LOMBARDY POPLAR 



The Lomhardy Poplar is generally re- 

 garded as a variety of the Black Poplar. 

 Its branches rise almost parallel with the 

 main stem, giving the tree its well-known 

 spire-like form. In nearly all other details 

 it conforms to the habit of the Black 

 Poplar, or with but slight variations. 

 The thick growth of its branches, often 

 from the very base of the trunk, should 

 be noted ; and also, when not so con- 

 cealed, the multiple-pillared aspect of 

 the trunk, as though a number of main 

 stems had coalesced. The trees that grow 

 with us have pollen-bearing catkins only, 

 which cluster about the top of the Lom- 

 bardy's spire. There are no fruit-pro- 

 ducing trees of this species in Britain. 



