EXVIII. SALICA‘CEA!: PO’PULUS. 819 
Gewnus II. 
a ec 
PO’PULUS Tourn. Tue Poriar. Lin. Syst. Dic'cia Octandria. 
Identification. Tourn. Inst., t. 350.; Lin. Gen., 526.; Theo. Nees ab Esenbeck Gen. Pl. Germ. 
Illust. ; Smith’s Eng. Fl., 4. p. 242. 
Synonymes: Peuplier, Fr.; Pappel, Ger.; Pioppo, Ital. ; Poplier, Dutch; Alamo, Span. 
Derivation. Some suppose the word Pépulus to be derived from pallé, or paipaild, to vibrate or 
shake ; others, that the tree obtained its name from its being used, in ancient times, to decorate 
the public places in Rome ; where it was called arbor populi, or the tree of the people. Bullet 
derives the name also from populus, but says that it alludes to the leaves being easily agitated, like 
the people. From the Spanish name for this tree, alamo, is derived the word alameda, the name 
given to the public walks in Spain, from their being generally planted with poplars. 
Gen. Char., §c. Bractea to the flower of each sex laciniated in its terminal 
edge. Male flower consisting of a calyx, and 8 stamens at fewest; in many 
instances many more. Female flower consisting of a calyx and a pistil. 
(G. Don.) 
Leaves simple, alternate, stipulate, deciduous ; entire or serrated, with 
the disk more or less oblate, and the petiole in most compressed in the 
part adjoining the disk. owers in catkins, greenish, red, or yellow. Seed 
cottony, ripe in a month or six weeks after the appearance of the flowers. 
Decaying leaves yellow, yellowish green, or black. — Trees deciduous ; 
natives of Europe, Asia, or North America. 
They are all of rapid growth, some of them extremely so; and they are all 
remarkable for a degree of tremulous motion in their leaves, when agitated by 
the least breath of wind. The catkins of the males of most of the species are 
very ornamental, from the red or dark brown tinge of their anthers, and from 
-their being produced véry early in spring, when the trees are leafless, The 
females of all the species have their seeds enveloped in abundance of cottony 
down; which, when ripe, and the seeds are shed, adheres to every object near 
it ; and is so like cotton wool in appearance and quality, that it has been 
manufactured into cloth and paper, though it has been found deficient in 
elasticity. The wood of the poplar is soft, light, and generally white, or of a 
pale yellow. It is of but little use in the arts, except in some departments 
of cabinet and toy making, and for boarded floors; for which last purpose it, 
is well adapted, from its whiteness, and the facility with which it is scoured ; 
and, also, from the difficulty with which it catches fire, and the slowness with 
whichit burns. In these respects, it is the very reverse of deal. Poplar, like 
other soft woods, is generally considered not durable ; but this is only the case 
when it is exposed to the changes of the external atmosphere, or to water. 
One of the most valuable properties of the poplar is, that it will thrive in 
towns in the closest situations; and another is, that, from the rapidity of its 
growth, it forms a screen for shutting out objects, and affords shelter and 
shade sooner than any other tree. All the kinds, whether indigenous or 
foreign, are readily propagated by cuttings or layers, and some of them by 
suckers. The species which produce suckers may all be propagated by 
cuttings of the roots. They all like a moist soil, rich rather than poor, parti- 
cularly when it is near a running stream ; but none of them thrive in marshy 
soil, as is commonly supposed, though in such situations the creeping-rovted 
kinds are to be preferred, as living on the surface. 
* 1, P.a’tBa L. The white Poplar, or Abele Tree. 
if ion. Lin. Sp., 1463. ; Eng. Fl., 4. p. 243. ; Hook. Brit. Fl., ed. 2., p. 432. 
cece i P. alba Tatifolia Nob Te. ip. 8 fig. 1.; P. major Mill. Dei. 8. No. 4.; P. nivea 
Willd. Arb. 227.; P. alba nivea Mart. Mill.; the name of Leuké, given to this species by Dics. 
corides, is still used among the modern Greeks (see Smith Prod., Sibth. Fl. Greca); the great 
white Poplar, great Aspen, Dutch Beech; Peuplier blanc, Ypréau, Blanc de Hollande, France 
Picard, Fr. 3; Aubo, or Aoubero, in some provinces ; weisse Pappel, Silber Pappel, weisse Aspe, 
Weissalber Baum, Ger. ; Abeelboom, Dutch. : 
Derivation. The specific name of White applies to the under surface of the leaves, which, when 
quivering in the wind, give the tree a peculiarly white appearance. The English name of Abcie 
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