WILLOW FAMILY 



ally, enlari:;ed at the base. Stipules vary in shape and remain until 

 the leaf is half gronn. 



I-'/oiutis. — iMarcli, April, Ijefore the lea\-es. Pistillate aments are 

 two and one-halt to lour 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 fringed with short thread-like lobes. Stamens 

 twenty to thirty, with short filaments and large light 

 red anthers, inserted on an oblique, slightly concave, 

 S^^(ii/f short-stalked disk. Ovary ovate, slighth' t"0-lobed, 

 ,a?fc^;Vi> sessile in a deep cup-shaped disk. Stigmas two, ses- 

 sile, dilated. 



Fruit. — Fruiting aments four to six inches long ; 

 capsules open IMay or June, are o\ate-oblong, often 

 curved, t\vo-\al\ed, light brown. Seeds oblong-ovate, 

 light brown suirounded 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 Pi5tillate 

 Flower of Bal- 

 sam, Poptilii^ 



enlarged. 



The greatest part of the drift timber that we observed on 

 the shores of the Arctic Sea was Balsam Poplar. lis Crce 

 name is Matheh-metoos, wliich means ugly poplar. 



— Sir John- Fk-\xklix's Report of Last Journey. 



The Balsam or Tacmahac is the largest tree 

 of northwestern 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. 



Populiis balsamifcra 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, Popnlus 

 bill s J ni i/cr ti. 

 Fruiting Am- 

 ents 4' to 6' 

 long. 



