Populus 1779 



The oldest tree in England is probably a fine specimen at Kew, growing near 

 the large Ginkgo tree, which measured 67 ft. by 4 ft. 8 in. in 19 10. Another at 

 Terling Place, Essex, planted in 1886, measured, in 19 10, 60 ft. high by 3 ft. 3 in. 

 in girth. A good specimen at Over Bridge, near Gloucester, was 55 ft. high in 

 191 1. The largest tree we know of in Germany is one at Spath's nursery, which 

 in 1908 was 66 ft. by 4 ft. It was first sent out from here in 1879. 



4. Var.globosa, Spath, Cat., No. 66, p. 3 (1886) ; Dippel, Laubholz. ii. 191 (1892). 

 A small tree or shrub, of dense habit, oval in outline, with small slightly lobed 



deltoid cordate leaves, grayish beneath, and said to be pink in the young state. 

 This has been propagated by Spath of Berlin, since 1886, when it originated in 

 their nursery from a cutting of P. alba ; but is little known in England. 



5. Var. Richardi. Leaves yellow on the upper surface, the colour lasting 

 throughout the season. This was shown at the International Horticultural Exhibition 

 of 191 2 by Richard, nurseryman at Naarden-bussum, near Amsterdam. 



6. Var. pendula, Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 1640 (1838). Branchlets 

 pendulous. This is mentioned by Loudon as a continental variety not introduced in 

 1838. It has lately been noticed^ at Breslau ; but we have seen no specimens. 



Distribution 



Both the grey and the white poplars have been so widely planted in Europe 

 that their exact distribution in the wild state is very uncertain. According to Will- 

 komm, P. alba is certainly not a native of northern Germany, or of Scandinavia, 

 though it thrives as a planted tree in Norway as far north as lat. 68°. Apparently 

 P. canescens is a native of the British Isles, central and northern France, and of the 

 Rhine valley in Baden and Alsace ; while typical P. alba is more southerly and 

 easterly in its distribution, occurring throughout the Mediterranean region in Spain and 

 Portugal, Italy, the Balkan States, Greece, Algeria, Morocco, Syria, and Asia Minor, 

 and extending northwards into the Alps and Carpathian ranges, being a characteristic 

 tree of the alluvial flats of the Danube and all its tributaries from Bavaria, throughout 

 Austria and Hungary, to its mouth in the Black Sea. Farther east, P. alba occurs 

 in Russia, the Caucasus, western Siberia, the north-western Himalayas, and western 

 Tibet. It is usually a native of low-lying moist woods, especially those fringing the 

 banks of rivers ; but it ascends in the valleys of the Alps, and in Spain and Italy to 

 about 2000 feet elevation. 



The white poplar is certainly not indigenous in England, and records of it as a 

 wild tree all probably refer to P. canescens, which often shows a considerable amount 

 of white foliage on the long shoots on young and vigorous trees. Turner,^ in 1 568, 

 says, " As touching the whyte aspe, I remember not that I ever saw it in any place 

 in England," and he appears to have known the tree, as he says it was plentiful in 

 Germany and Italy. The date of the introduction of P. alba is uncertain.^ The 



» Behnsch, in Mitt. Deut. Bend. Ges. 1906, p. 212. ^ Herball, 99 (1568). 



3 Hartlib, Complete Husbandman (1659), ex Loudon, op. cit. 1641, states that some years before the time of his writing, 

 10,000 abeles were sent into England from Flanders, and transplanted into many counties. These trees were probably 

 P. canescens. 



