THE POPLARS. 



129 



Balm of Gilead. 



Populus 

 balsamifera., 

 var. candicans. 



figure, and is found in the woods and beside the 

 streams in the Northern States. Its leaf is thick, firm, 

 and home erect on the twigs ; and the large, brown- 

 yellow leaf buds are covered in spring with 

 a fragrant resiaous coating. I have 

 drawn for comparison the leaves of 

 the three varieties which 

 are — var. intermedia, var. 

 vitninalis {P. laurifolia, 

 Sarg.), and var. latifolia. 

 Balm of 

 Gilead may 

 at once be recog- 

 nized by its fra- 

 grant resinous leaf buds ; these 

 are especially odorous in spring- 

 time. It is purely a matter of ' Populus balsamifera. 

 taste if one considers the buds fragrant; but de 

 gusti'bus.n'bn est disputandum. In my own opinion, 

 the smell is unpleasantly suggestive of the "great 

 unclean," or rather the mildly unclean, who use per- 

 fumery, resulting iu a mixture which can not de- 

 ceive ! Guessing at an analysis of the perfume in a 

 leaf biid, I should define it thus : equal parts of sandal- 

 wood, patchouli, and barber shop to one part of es- 

 sence of boiled onions. The bit of balm of Gilead I 

 had in my hands last September smelled just that way. 



