( ioo) 



Carolina Poplar Populus deltoides 



The Carolina poplar and the aspens may be readily dis- 

 tinguished from all the other native Hudson Valley poplars 

 by their flattened leaf-stalks. To this flattening and con- 

 sequent weakening may be traced the characteristic quivering 

 of the leaves in the breeze. 



The necklace poplar, as it is also called, is a tree rarely 

 higher than 120 feet. The trunk is covered with smooth 

 gray-green bark when young but in age the bark becomes 

 rough and fissured. The branches are more or less spread- 

 ing and stout. From the aspens of the Hudson Valley the 

 Carolina poplar can be distinguished by its broadly triangular 

 or delta-shaped leaf-blades, which are long-pointed at their 

 tips. The flowers are so clustered as to form the familiar 

 catkin, a peculiarity of all poplars. They bloom in April 

 or May. Those catkins which subsequently bear the fruits 

 elongate greatly after the blooming period. 



The Carolina poplar grows best near water and it is found 

 from Quebec to Florida and westward. It is common in the 

 Hudson Valley. 



The well-known Lombardy poplar {Populus italica) 

 characterized by its rigidly erect branches, grows in the 

 Hudson Valley only as an escape from cultivation. It is an 

 Asiatic tree. 



American Aspen Populus tremuloides 



The American aspen or quaking aspen is a tree occasion- 

 ally reaching a height of 100 feet and a trunk diameter of 

 3 feet but in the Hudson Valley it is much smaller. The 

 bark is pale yellow, becoming whitish. The spreading 

 branches are remote, often contorted, and give the tree a 

 round-topped outline. 



The leaf-blades are dark green; oval in outline, with a 

 rounded or wedge-shaped base and sharp-pointed tip. The 

 teeth on the margin are small and have a tendency to be 

 incurved. The leaf-stalk is flat and about as long as the 

 leaf-blade. The gray-green flowers bloom in April and 



