WILLOW FAMILY 



ally, enlarged at the base. Stipules vary in shape and remain until 



the leaf is half grown. 

 Flowers. — March, April, before the leaves. Pistillate aments are 



two and one-half to four inches long, one-third of an inch thick ; 

 scales are broadly ovate, light brown, scarious, often 

 irregularly three-lobed or parted at the apex which 

 is fringecl with short thread-like lobes. Stainens 

 twenty to thirty, with short filaments and large light 

 red anthers, inserted on an oblique, slightly concave, 

 short-stalked disk. Ovary ovate, slightly two-lobed, 

 sessile in a deep cup-shaped disk. Stigmas two, ses- 

 sile, dilated. 



Fruit. — Fruiting aments four to six inches long ; 

 capsules open May or June, are ovate-oblong, often, 

 curved, two-valved, light brown. Seeds oblong-ovate, 

 light brown surrounded by slender hairs which sur- 

 round the aments with masses of snow-white cotton 

 which is wafted with the seed great distances from the 

 tree. 



A Staminate 

 and a Pistillate 

 Flower of Bal- 

 sam, Populits 

 bahamifcra ; 

 enlarged. 



The greatest part of the drift timber that we observed on 

 the shores of the Arctic Sea was Balsam Poplar. Its Cree 

 name is Matheh-metoos, which means ugly poplar. 



—Sir John Franklin's Report of Last Journey. 



The Balsam or Tacmahac is the largest tree 

 of northvi'estern America. In the valley of the 

 Mackenzie and upper Yukon it attains magnifi- 

 cent proportions, reaching the height of one 

 hundred feet with a diameter of six or seven, 

 and forms dense forests thousands of square 

 miles in extent. It possesses all the poplar 

 characteristics ; of drooping catkins, whitish 

 trunk, fluttering shimmering leaves, and cot- 

 tony seeds. 



Populus balsaniifera candicans is the tree in 

 northeastern United States and Canada known 

 as the Balm of Gilead. It is more and more fre- 

 quently cultivated as a shade-tree, especially in 

 cities where bituminous coal is habitually used. 

 Three varieties are distinguished in cultivation. 



It differs from the specific form in its more spreading 

 branches, in its broader heart-shaped leaves which are more 



424 



Balsam, Populus 

 haisamifera. 

 Fruiting Am- 

 ents 4' to t/ 



long. 



