150 THE TREE BOOK 



overlapping scales, and sometimes tightly 

 sealed with a sticky substance. There are 

 twenty-five species of the poplar. Twelve of 

 these live in America, nine being found east of 

 the Eockies. Since earliest time the poplar has 

 been regarded as a weather prophet. Have you 

 not often heard your grandfather say: "It is 

 going to rain. See the poplar leaves turning 

 silver side up." 



The Cottonwood is the largest of the poplar 

 trees east of the Eocky Mountains, and is fa- 

 miliar to all, though it bears different names, 

 being called the Carolina poplar and the neck- 

 lace poplar. This tree, unlike most members 

 of the family, will grow in dry soil. The swamp 

 Cottonwood, or downy poplar, a smaller type of 

 this tree, grows in boggy soil. 



The white poplar, "the poplar that with sil- 

 ver lines his leaf," is a well-known tree, but it 

 is not a favorite for city lawns because the 

 fuzzy silver lining catches and holds the soot. 

 Also the tree has the bad habit of continually 

 sprouting from the roots. In ancient Eome the 

 tree was dedicated to Time, because the leaves 

 were nearly always stirring and their blackish- 

 green, with the white linings, resembled day and 

 night. The Grecians made the tree the emblem 

 of Hercules, because he destroyed Cacus in a 



