362 



THE BLACK POPLAR. 



species by its pointed and slightly notched leaves, 

 which are smooth on both sides. 



It was known to Pliny, who recommends it to 

 be planted as a support for \dnes, a purpose to 

 which, owing to the scantiness of its foliage, 

 it is well adapted. An ancient fable in Roman 

 mythology relates that Phaeton, having obtain- 

 ed permission from his father to drive the horses 

 of the Sun for a day, became terrified, and that 

 Jupiter, to prevent a general conflagration, hurled 

 him from his chariot into the river Po, where 

 he was drowned. His sisters wandered up and 

 down the banks, inconsolable for his loss, till 

 they were converted into Poplars, and wept 

 amber for tears. 



" Nor must the Heliads' fate in silence pass, 

 Whose sorrow first produced the Poplar race : 

 Their tears, while at a brother's grave they mourn, 

 To golden drops of fragrant amber turn/' 



The Black Poplar is a tree of very rapid growth, 

 and attains a great size. It is consequently often 

 planted as an ornamental tree, though within the 

 last thirty years its place has been much usurped 

 by foreign species. The bright green colour of 

 its foliage never at rest, and sparkling in the light 

 of the sun, especially after a summer shower, is 

 very pleasing to the eye. The seeds when ripe 

 are invested with thick cottony down, and being 

 carried away by the wind, frequently produce 

 trees in situations where they would be least 

 expected. A m'iter in the Gardeners'' Magazine 

 states that the kitchen-garden at Versailles was 

 entirely neglected from the beginning of the 

 French Revolution until 1819 ; and that, in the 



