392 X1-:W KXGLAXD TREES IX "WIXTER. 



BALSAM POPLAR 



Balsam, Tacamahac, Balm of Gilead. 



Populus balsamifera L. 



HABIT — A medium sized tree. ?.0-7.> ft. in height with trunk diameter 

 of 1-0 ft.; head open, cumparativt- ly narrow, with spire-like tendency; 

 spreading- hy means of root suckers. 



BARK — On young trunks and branches smooth, light brown tinged 

 with rtd, on older trunks dark gray tinged with red, broken into broad, 

 firni. rounded ridges. 



TWIGS — Stout, round, bright reddish-brown, smooth, shining; older 

 twigs dark orange colored becoming gray tinged with yellowish-green, 

 roughened by thickened leaf-scars; short spurs numerous with terminal 

 but without lateral buds. LEXTICELS — oblong, light reddish -orange, 

 scattered. PITH — ."-pidnted, star- shaped. 



LEAF-SCARS — Alternate, more lliaji 2-ranked. large. 3-lobed. inversely 

 triangular, rather narrow for the group. STIPULE-SCARS — distinct. 

 EUXL)LI-:-SCARS^3. simple or compound. 



Rl DS — Large, dark red. resin'.'us, stick>'. fragrant especially if 

 crushed, narrowly o\'aif ti> conical Inng-prunted, 15-li5 mm. long, terminal 

 larger and relative 1\- wider than lateral buds. BUD- SCALES — thick. 

 smooth, oblong, pointed, red or green, saturated with fragrant amber- 

 colored resin w^hich on the outside, ■where exposed to the air. forms a 

 dark reddish, shining varnish to the bud; the first scale of lateral 

 bud anterior. 



COHPARISOXS — The Balsam Poplar with its varieties is distinguished 

 frrtm all other forms b\' tiie fragranre nf its large resinous buds. T^^'igs 

 and buds resemble thrise of the Small-toothed Aspen In color but are 

 much larger and are distinctly fragrant especially if crushed. The 

 Balm of Gilead [PopuJns candicans Ait.] is considered a distinct species by 

 some and b\- others only a variety. It is extensively planted. It differs 

 from the topical Balsam Poplar in its more spreading branches forming 

 a broader and more open head but the twig characters are closely 

 similar. The photograjihs were all taken from this latter variety, the 

 descriptions from the t>"pe. 



DISTRIRITIOX — Alluvial soils; river banks, valleys, borders of 

 swamps, woods. Newfoundland and Nova Scotia: west tn Manitoba; 

 northward to the coast of Alaska and along the Mackenzie River to 

 the Artie circle; west through northern New York, Michigan, Minnesota. 

 Dakota (Black Hills), Montana, beyond the Rockies to the Pacific 

 coast. 



IX' X'EW EXGLAXD— JIaine — common; New Hampshire — Connecticut 

 river \alley, generally near the river, becoming more plentiful north- 

 ward; Vf rm out— frequent ; Massachusetts and Rhode Island — not re- 

 ported. 



IX^ COXXECTICLTT — Local. River banks, wet woods and roadsides, 

 usually as an escape from cultivation; Southington. Milford. Wilton, 

 Sherman, Xew Milford and Kent. Apparently native at Norfolk. 



AVOOD — Light, soft and weak; light brown, with thick nearly white 

 E a p ■n" (j d ; used lor j) a i 1 s . !> o x e s and pa i> e r yt u 1 p . 



