OLASS XXII. ORDER VI. ] POPULUS. 1289 
“Old Gerard” quaintly compared the leaves of the Aspen to women’s 
tongues, “which seldom cease wagging ;” but one of the most re- 
markable notions respecting this tree is that which Lightfoot tells us 
is entertained by the Highlanders of Scotland, that our Saviour’s 
Cross was made of its wood, and for which reason they suppose that 
its leaves can never rest; an allusion to this superstition, and the 
rustling noise they make by rubbing one on the other, occurs in the 
following lines of Mrs. Hemans :— 
“ The rustic doth assign 
To the strange restlessness of those wan leaves! 
The cross he deems, the blessed cross whereon 
The meek Redeemer bow’d his head to death, 
Was framed of Aspen wood; and since that hour, 
Through all its race the pale tree hath sent down 
A thrilling consciousness, a secret woe, 
Making them tremulous, when not a breeze 
Disturbs the airy Thistle down, or shakes 
The light lines of the shining Gossamer,” 
As an ornamental tree in landscape gardening it is esteemed when 
standing alone, or on the border of plantations, in wet situations; but 
on open lawns or pastures it is objectionable, on account of the great 
number of suckers which it puts up : its light airy appearance, and the 
constant motion of its leaves, are, however, its great recommendations. 
4, P. ni'gra, Linn. (Fig. 1550.) Black Poplar. Leaves triangular, 
ovate, acuminate, serrated, smooth; branches spreading ; fertile cat- 
kins long, cylindrical, pendulous; stigmas four. 
English Botany, t. 1910.—English Flora, vol. iv. p. 245.—Hooker, 
British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 377.—Lindley, Synopsis, p. 238. 
B. viridis. Branches green, leaves broader. 
Lindley, Synopsis, p. 238. 
A large spreading much branched tree, from fifty to eighty feet 
high, with a yellowish ash-coloured bark, becoming darker, and cracked 
by age, downy when young, becoming smooth. Leaves triangular, 
ovate, with an acuminated point, serrated, with rather obtuse teeth, 
almost entire towards the point and at the base, dark green above, 
and smooth, paler beneath, and somewhat downy when young, the 
Sootstalks rather short, compressed, and more or less hairy, becoming 
quite smooth. Catkins long, cylindrical, lax, pendulous, appearing 
before the leaves, the barren ones a dark reddish colour from its nu- 
merous anthers, the scales in it as well as the fertile ones palmate, 
hairy, sometimes smooth. Germen slender, ovate, enveloped at the 
base with the cup-shaped perianth. Stigmas four, awl-shaped, 
reddish, spreading. Seeds very cottony. 
Habitat—Watery places, the banks of rivers, &c. 
Tree; flowering in March. 
The wood of this tree, and its applications to economical purposes, 
