XXXY. 
THE POPLAR, 
PortaR (Populus)—The poplar tree belongs to Diacia 
Octandria in the Linnean system, and to Salicacee (Loudon) 
in the natural system of botany, where the willow and poplar 
form the order. All the poplars, like the willows, are uni- 
sexual—either male or female plants. Any deviation from 
this rule is very rare among poplars; and as all the species 
abound in varieties, differing to some extent according to sex, 
age, influence of soil and climate, some of the species, as 
might be expected, are not easily recognised ; and botanists 
differ in some instances as to what are species and what 
varieties. The tree, in some species or other, is a native of 
all quarters of the world. 
All the poplars are remarkable for rapidity of growth, 
therefore no tree is more frequently employed to furnish im- 
mediate effect in a bare locality. Although many of the 
species are short-lived, and destitute of that elegance of rami- 
fication so desirable in trees, yet, interspersed with other 
kinds, they furnish a shelter and embellishment until those 
of a slower growth, possessed of a more elegant form, have 
attained to a size adapted for the purpose for which they 
were intended. 
I may confine my remarks to the following species, with 
their more prominent varieties, being the kinds best adapted 
to our climate :— 
P. alba (Linneus), the white poplar or abele tree; P. a. 
canescens (Smith), the grey poplar; P. tremula (L.), the trem- 
bling, or aspen; P. fastigiata (Desfont), the fastigiate, or Lom- 
bardy ; P. monilifera (Aiton), the necklace-bearing or black 
