159 



THE POPLAE. 



POPULUS. 

 Class — Dkecia. O/'rfc/-— Octandria. 

 Natural Order — AjiENTACEiE. 

 Xo greater contrast can be well imagined than that 

 afforded by the trees of this tribe, when compared with 

 the one which forms the subject of the last chapter. The 

 terms ancient, umbrageous, wide-spreading, picturesque, 

 may be applied to the Beech with propriety ; the very 

 reverse of all these will characterise some one or other of 

 the Poplars. The contrast extends even to their places of 

 growth ; for while the hill-side is the favourite haunt of 

 the Beech, the Poplar, for the most part, prefers the river's 

 bank. The foliage of the Beech, again, is heavy, unless 

 examined in detail ; that of the Poplar scanty, and re- 

 markable for being nearly always in motion — a peculiarity 

 to be attributed to the slenderness and singular formation 

 of its leaf-stalks. It bears its flowers in catkins : these 

 are of two kinds, each growing on separate trees, the 

 barren conspicuous by then- length and the large size of 

 the anthers, on which account they have been compared 

 to large red caterpillars ; the fertile ones, which are often 

 equally long, may readily be distinguished by the downy 

 wool which invests the seeds, and which is so like cotton 

 that it has, though with indifferent success, been manufac- 

 tured into cloth and paper. Most of the tribe are very 

 prolific in suckers from the root. The wood is soft and 

 light, and of little worth in the arts and manufactures. It 

 certainly possesses one property which makes it valuable 

 for some purposes, that, namely, of being very difficult to 

 ignite ; hence it may be employed with advantage in 

 flooring rooms. The name Fopulus is said by some to be 

 derived from a Greek word (TraiTraXAw, to vibrate) bearing 

 allusion to the tremulous motion of its leaves. Others 

 say that the tree derived its name from being considered 



