476 Lxxi. SALiciNE^. [Populus. 



A large tree, witii lanceolate, viscid, resinous buds, the yellow resinous 

 gum sometimes secreted in masses ; young shoots slightly pubescent. 

 Leaves pale and pubescent along nerves beneath, cordate, acuminate, 

 dentate, with obtuse, glandular, ciliate teeth, otherwise glabrous, blade 

 3-7, petiole 2-5 in. long ; basal nerves 3, the midrib prominent, penni- 

 veined. Female catkins drooping, compact while in flower, lax in fruit. 

 Disc large, enclosing more than half the ovary, dentate with rounded 

 obtuse teeth, pedicel shorter than disc, but lengthening out in fruit. 

 Stigmas 3-4, large, obcordate, subsessUe. Fruiting catkins 6-9 in. long, 

 pendulous ; capsule ovoid, ^-^ in. long, 3-4-valved, each valve bearing a 

 placenta on a black median line ; hairs of seeds as long as capsule ; pedi^ 

 eels as long as capsule. 



Himalaya, at 4000-10,000 ft. from the Indus to Bhutan in mixed forests, most 

 common north-west of the Jumna. In Kunawar, Earang is its upper limit ; it 

 is not uncommon near Chini and Pangi, but there is no proof of its having 

 been found in the inner arid tract either on the Sntlej or on the Indus. It has 

 not been found trans-Indus, but Dr Stewart thought that it would probably be 

 found higher up on the Suliman range than where he had been, and in his MSS. 

 he entered Shdwa as the Pushtu name of the tree. The leaves are shed ia 

 October, and turn light yellow before falling ; the new leaves come out early in 

 spring, with or soon after the flowers. Attains 60-70 ft., with a tall, erect 

 straight trunk, 6-8, occasionally 10 ft. girth, often ridged and almost buttressed. 

 Bark grey, smooth with vertical wrinkles. Galls, brittle, brown, subglobose, 

 1 in. diam., are often fovmd on young branches. The leaves somewhat resemble 

 those of Ficus rdigiosa, and the tree is sometimes called pahari pipal, with 

 the least breath of wind they make a continuous fluttering noise. The-wood 

 is soft, white ; water-troughs are made of it. The leaves are valued as fodder 

 for goats. 



5. P. balsamifera, Linn. — Syn. F. suaveolens, Fisch., and laurifolia, 

 Ledebour Fl. Eoss. iii. 629. Vern. Fhalsh, makhal, palchshu, pakh hut, 

 kramal, Pb. Berfa, cMngnia, yarpa, magkal, mdhal, West Tibet. 



A large tree, with long, angled, flexuose, graceful branchlets and viscid 

 resinous buds, youngest shoots slightly pubescent. Leaves often crowded 

 at the ends of short lateral branchlets, subcoriaceous, glabrous, pale, often 

 tawny beneath, ovate, acuminate, dentate, blade 2-5, petiole 1-3 in. long. 

 Male catkins cylindric, drooping, rachis angular, slightly winged ; disc 

 pedicellate ; stamens 20-30, filaments slender, longer than anthers. Female 

 catkins lax, drooping, 5-6 in. long when in fruit ; rachis generally hairy. 

 Disc cup -shaped, or turbinate, sinuate - dentate. Ovary rugose, often 

 hairy ; stigmas 2-3, broad, 2-lobed. , Capsule subsessile, girt at base by the 

 glabrous yellow disc, 2-4-valved, each valve bearing a placenta on the 

 inside along its median line. 



Commonly planted in the inner arid N.W. Himalaya. Lahoul (9000-10,800 

 ft.), Kunawar (8000-9000 ft.), Piti (10,000-13,000 ft.), Zanskar, Ladak (to 14,000 

 ft.) Wild on the Shayok in West Tibet, and throughout North Asia and 

 North America (Tacahamac tree). Also in Afghanistan (Hyderkhet, on the 

 Schneesh nver, Stewart). Hardy in England. Fl. April -May; the fruit 

 ripens m Aug. and Sept. Attains (in Tibet at moderate elevations) 60-70 



