WHITE POPLAR \ 1:1:1 l. 1 1:1 1 

 Populut alba L. 



The Willow Family 



BALK ICEA] 



Habit and Habitat: A large trei te\ tall, with a trunk diam- 



irming a Large, spreading, rounded or pyramidal crown 

 of large branches and many stout twj own often tangled b 



of crooked branches. Prefers rich, moist soils in which it grows rapidly, 



but also thrives in poor soil. The roots penetrate deeply and often pro- 

 duce many sucker- or sprouts for several feet surrounding the b 



Leaves and Buds: Leaves alternate, simple. 2-4 inches long, and 

 ■ut the same in width, broadly ovate or rounded, irregularly tout bed 



or wavy-margined, sometimes deeply 3-5-lobed, smooth and dark green 

 ve. white-woolly beneath; petioles long, slender, flattened, hairy. 



Winter-buds ovoid, pointed, downy, not viscid or resinous, about 



inch long. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers appearing in April or May, bef 

 the leaves, in catkins; staminate catkins thick, 2-1 inches long, yellowish- 

 green; pistillate catkins slender, pendulous, 1-2 inches long; calyx and 

 rila D; stamen- 6-16 on each scale, purplish; ovary thick, stout. 

 Fruit a stout. 2-valved pod or capsule, %-*& inch long 1 , borne in drooping 

 catkins; seeds light brown, surrounded by long, white hairs, as in the 

 other poplars. 



Bark, Twins and Wood: Bark on twigs greenish and covered with 

 a whitish down, becoming greenish-gray and splotched with darker spots, 

 dark bluish-green on older branches, dark gray or almost black on 

 the main trunk and deeply fissured to form irregular longitudinal 

 ridges. Wood light, soft, weak, reddish-yellow, with thick, white Bap- 

 wood, difficult to split, warps badly; used slightly except for fuel. 



Distribution in the State: This poplar is a native of Europe and 

 Asia from which it has been introduced into nearly all parts of the world. 

 It has been planted rather widely in Nebraska as an ornamental for 

 which purpose it is well fitted. The English name of the tree is derived 

 from the Dutch name, Abeel. It is thought that the tree was intro- 

 duced into England by way of Holland. 



Remarks: The white poplar is often confused with the silver maple, 

 in fact is often called silver maple. I suppose that this is due to the 

 deeply lobed h sometimes seen on this species and which do 



semble somewhat those of our common silver or soft maple. But the 



ambiance is slight and superficial for while the under side of the silver 

 maple leaf is more or less silvery, in the white poplar the under surf. 

 of the leaves it red with a thick, downy coat of silky hairs which 



is never true for the maple. And then the buds and leaves of the silver 

 maple are always opposite, and the bark usually more or less pinkish 

 while in the white poplar the buds and leaves are always alternate and 

 the bark greenish. The foliage effect of this tree produced by smooth, 

 dark green and shiny upper surfaces of the leaves and the snowy white- 



1S of the under surfaces : -ially marked and beautiful. This 



mingling of green and white makes the species ery effective orna- 



mental and one which should be more widely used in this star 



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