356 THE WHITE POPLAR, 



distinct species, or only varieties. It is, therefore, 

 scarcely worth inquiring to which kind should be 

 referred Co^^'per's 



Poplar, tliat with silver lines his leaf 



or what tree Barry Cornwall commemorated, when 

 he sung 



" The green woods moved, and the light Poplar shook 

 Its silver pyramid of leaves." 



LEAF OF WHITE POPLAR. 



The leaves of both may be distinguished from 

 the other British species by being deeply jagged, 

 the grey less so than the white. The leaves of 

 both are white with down beneath, particularly 

 the latter, which also are larger than those of the 

 other. The fertile catkins of the Abele are oval, 

 and each flower is furnished with four pistils : 

 those of the Grey Poplar are long and cylindrical, 

 and the flowers contain eight pistils each. In 

 all other respects the trees are so similar, that 



