THE GREY, OR COMMON WHITE POPLAR. 



177 



When arrived at maturity 

 it presents the appearance 

 of a tree with a wide and 

 spreading head, rather thin- 

 ly clothed with foliage, and 

 a straight trunk, often clear 

 of branches to the height 

 of thirty or forty feet. It 

 grows with great rapidity, 

 and, as a timber tree, is at 

 its highest state of perfec- 

 tion at the age of fifty or 

 sixty years ; for though its 

 existence may be prolonged 

 considerably beyond a cen- 

 tury, a decay at the heart 



or central part of the trunk, usually commences at the 

 age above mentioned. 



The Grey Poplar is supposed to be indigenous to Bri- 

 tain, being met with in a wild state at very remote and 

 distant stations ; its near relative, the Abele, with which 

 it is frequently confounded, is, on the contrary, said to 

 have been introduced from Flanders, and this seems to be 

 supported by Evelyn's statement of the propagation of 

 the Grey Poplar, where he says, " There is a finer sort 

 of White Poplar, which the Dutch call abeel, and we 

 have of late much of it transported out of Holland. 11 



As an ornamental tree, it is not unworthy of a place 

 in extensive parks and grounds, particularly when planted 

 in low situations, or near to water ; it ought, however, to 

 be grouped and massed with trees of equally rapid growth, 

 else it soon becomes disproportionate, and out of keeping 

 with those whose progress is comparatively slow. In 



