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POP. A United States name for some 

 varieties of Maize. 

 POPE'S-HEAD. Melocactus communis. 



POPLAR. Populus. — , YELLOW, of 

 North America. Liriodendron tulipifera. 



POPPIGIA. A tall tree, a native of the 

 West Indies and tropical South America, 

 with simply pinnate leaves, having many 

 leaflets like those of a Robinia, and nume- 

 rous yellow flowers in terminal panicles. It 

 forms a geuus of Leguminosce of the sub- 

 order Ccesalpiniece, and is chiefly character- 

 ised hy five nearly equal narrow petals, 

 ten nearly equal free stamens, and a long 

 thin flat and rather narrow pod, with a 

 narrow wing along the upper suture, much 

 like the pod of a Robinia. 



POPPY. Papaver. — , CALIFORNIAN- 



Eschscholtzia californica. — , CELANDINE- 

 Stylophorum. — , CORN. Papaver Rhceas- 

 — , GARDEN. Papaver somniferum. — , 

 HORNED. Glaucium luteum. — , OPIUM. 

 Papaver somniferum. — , PRICKLY. Arge- 

 mone mexicana. — , RED. Papaver Rhceas. 

 — , SEA. Glaucium luteum. — , SPAT- 

 LING. Silene inflata. — , WELSH. Me- 

 conopsis cambrica. 



POPPYA. A name synonymous with 

 Lvffa, a genus of the Cucurbitaceos em- 

 bracing the Towel-gourds. P. Fabiana of 

 gardens is Luffa cylindrica. [A. A. B.] 



POPPY-SEED. The seed of Papaver som- 

 niferum. 



POPPYWORTS. Lindley's name for the 

 Papaveracece. 



POPTJLAGE. (Fr.) Caltha. 



POPULUS. The Poplar : a family of de- ' 

 clduous trees, often attaining a consider- 

 able height, natives of temperate climates 

 in both hemispheres. They belong to the 

 .SaZicflceo?, and are botanically distinguished 

 by bearing both barren and fertile flowers 

 in catkins, the scales of which are jagged. 

 There are no nectariferous glands as in 

 Salix ; the number of stamens varies from 

 four to thirty, and these organs, as is also 

 the case with the style in the fertile flower, 

 are contained in a cup-shaped perianth. 



The Poplars are trees of rapid growth ; 

 consequently their timber is sof t.light, and 

 of a loose texture : they are remarkable for 

 a greater or less amount of tremulous mo- 

 tion in the leaves, occasioned by the length 

 and slenderness of the leafstalk, which in- 

 stead of being flattened horizontally, or in 

 the same plane with the leaf, as is the case 

 with the generality of trees, is compressed 

 vertically, so that the plane of the leaf and 

 that of the stalk form a right angle with 

 each other. The barren catkins are con- 

 spicuous in early spring by their length, 

 and the red tint of the numerous stamens, 

 and, a little later in the season, the fertile 

 catkins become remarkable from the quan- 

 tity of white cottony down which enve- 

 lopes the seeds. 



P.fastigiata, the Lombardy Poplar, is the 

 formal cypress-shaped tree with perpen- 



dicular slender branches so common in 

 suburban gardens, but scarcely ornamental 

 except when its taper head rises above a 

 mass of round-headed trees and breaks or 

 relieves a too continuous horizontal line. 

 It is indigenous in Lombardy, Persia, and 

 the Himalayas, and attains a height of from 

 100 to 150 feet. Its timber is of little use, 

 except for packing-cases. P. monilifera, 

 the Black Italian Poplar, is a native of 

 North America, though now common in 

 Italy and Switzerland and extensively 

 planted in England. It is the fastest-grow- 

 ing of all the Poplars, and sends up a re- 

 markably straight stem ; but the branches 

 are far more diffuse than those of the Lom- 

 bardy Poplar, with which, however, it is 

 closely allied. P. alba, or Abele, the White 

 Poplar, and P. canescens, the Grey Poplar, 

 are allied species : the former having four 

 yellow stigmas and the fertile catkins oval ; 

 and the latter eight purple stigmas, and 

 the fertile catkins cylindrical. These trees 

 are thought to be natives of Britain, France, 

 and Germany, as well as the Caucasus, Bar- 

 bary, and Persia. They often attain a large 

 size, and are remarkable for their roundish 

 deeply toothed leaves, which are downy 

 and white beneath. The Abele is the badge 

 of the Fergusons. The timber of P. alba 

 is of little value ; that of the Grey Poplar, a 

 tree of slower growth, is used by the car- 

 penter, turner, and millwright for many 

 purposes. P. tremula, the Aspen, is a na- 

 tive of most parts of Britain in wet soils. 

 This is also a fast-growing tree, with a 

 smoothish grey bark and spreading branch- 

 es, which in age become pendulous; the 

 leaves are nearly circular, almost smooth 

 on both sides, and are especially liable to 

 the tremulous motion peculiar to the fa- 

 mily. P. nigra, the Black Poplar, so called 

 apparently in contradistinction from the 

 White Poplar, is considered by Sir W. J. 

 Hooker to be merely a variety of the Lom- 

 bardy Poplar. P. balsamifera, the Tacama- 

 hac, a native of North America, is remark- 

 able for its fine foliage in early summer, 

 and the pleasant balsamic odour of its buds 

 and leaves. For other species and varieties 

 see Loudon's Arboretum. French: Peuplier; 

 German : Pappel. [C. A. J.] 



PORANTHERA. A genus of Euphorbia- 

 cew, of the tribe Phyllanthece, consisting of 

 small Australian shrubs, usually glabrous 

 and much-branched, with alternate entire 

 narrow often heath-like leaves, and small 

 flowers in dense clusters surrounded by a 

 few involucral leaves. The calyx is colour- 

 ed and five-cleft, with five minute petals ; 

 the male flowers have five stamens remark- 

 able for their four-celled anthers, and the 

 females a three-celled ovary with two 

 ovules in each cell, and three two-cleft 

 styles. There are not many species, and 

 none of any special interest. 



PORCAL. A large plum grown in Spain. 



PORCELLE. (Fr.) Eypochceris. 



PORCUPINE-WOOD. The hard outer 

 portion of the trunk of Cocos nucifera. 



