THE LOMBARDY POPLAR 79 



as that of the duration of life of this species, at least 

 in our climate. 



Growing sixty feet or more in twenty years, 

 and ultimately attaining sometimes to the height of 

 150 feet, the Lombardy Poplar has not the smooth 

 stem common in the other species. Its bark is deeply 

 furrowed, and stands out in buttresses at the base of 

 the trunk, recalling the appearance of some of the 

 giant Figs of the Tropics. Sometimes, too, the stem 

 acquires a twist in its growth, though not with the 

 symmetrical regularity of the Spanish Chestnut. 



This form seems to have been introduced into Eng- 

 land from Turin, in 1758, by the Earl of Rochford, 

 then our ambassador at the Piedmontese Court, the 

 earliest specimens being planted near the interesting 

 priory of St. Osyth in Essex. 



The beauty of the Lombardy Poplar is mainly one 

 of landscape effect, its tall, erect growth acting as 

 a. relief or foil to the rounded outlines of other trees, 

 and contrasting admirably with the horizontal lines 

 of the water by the side of which it is so often seen. 

 Whilst in Lombardy and France it is commonly 

 planted as a hedge in lines,* which from their length 

 are decidedly monotonous, with us it occurs commonly 

 in shorter lines, acting as a screen, or merely as an 

 ornamental break in the landscape. Properly it should 

 never stand alone, and should always be so placed 

 that the row of vertical green plumes may serve, as 

 has been suggested, to break, or to contrast with, some 

 horizontal line — a river bank, a road, an unsightly 

 railway embankment, or the arches of a viaduct or 

 aqueduct. Their suckers form an objection to their 



