N. 0. SALICINEjE. 1221 



curved, slender, pale-yellow, £-lin. long ; stamens 2, free; bracts 

 lanceolate. Females : as long bracts as in the male, small pale. 

 Capsules sessile, narrowly conic, glabrous or slightly hairy at 

 base. Stigmas 2, sessile, entire. 



Uses : — The leaves and bark are considered tonic, possibly 

 from the salicine in them. (Stewart.) They are still much used 

 by native practitioners as astringents and tonics, chiefly in the 

 treatment of intermittent and remittent fevers. (Punjab Pro- 

 ducts.) The bark is also said to be anthelmintic. (Watt.; 



1208. Populus nigra, Linn., h.f.b.i., V. 638. 



Vern.: — Sufeda (Pb.) ; Frast (Kashmir) ; Prost, farsh, kramali, 

 biilns, (Himalayan names) ; Yarpa, yulatt, changma, kabul, 

 kaull (Ladak). 



Habitat : — Cultivated here and there in the N.-W. Himalaya, 

 from Simla westward. 



A large, deciduous tree. Bark thick, grey or blackish-grey, 

 rough, with numerous characteristic, deep, vertical fissures. 

 Wood soft, even-grained ; sap wood white, heartwood reddish- 

 brown. Gamble further adds : — " The variety of the Black 

 Poplar, found in the Himalaya, is almost always the fastigiate 

 form known as the Lombardy Poplar; it is very common and 

 conspicuous in avenues in Kashmir, and some trees are 90-100ft. 

 in height and 6 to 7ft. in girth. From the Kuram Valley, 

 Aitchison and Hemsly have described a variety, afghanica, with 

 slender branches and small leaves." Branchlets and leaves 

 glabrous. Buds viscid. Leaves with penni-nerved midrib and 

 3 basal-nerves ; almost triangular, acuminate, crenate ; blade 

 2-4in. Petiole l-2Jin. long. Catkins glabrous. Males pink, 

 stamens 15-30. Females lax, drooping, disk shallow ; pedicel 

 short. Fruiting catkins 4-6in. long. 



Uses : — The bark is officinal in the plains, an arak [liquor] 

 being extracted from it, which is considered depurative. 

 (Dr. Stewart.) 



In Tuscany, an ointment prepared from the buds is used for 

 haemorrhoids, and the balsam obtained from the same source 

 is a popular remedy for colds. (Watt.) 



