186 



PKACTICAL FOEESTRY. 



habitants of the Old World, mainly in the northern or colder 

 regions. Flowers minute, in drooping catkins, on a cup-shaped 

 disk, usually appearing before the leaves. Seeds minute, usual- 

 ly furnished with a long tuft of cottony down at one end. 

 Trees of light, soft wood, of little value except for fuel, and 

 for this reason only prized where better kinds are scarce or un- 

 attainable. They are usually propagated from cuttings, as 

 most of the species can be rapidly multiplied in this way. The 

 rapidity with which some of the larger species grow, has made 

 them very popular for planting in the prairie regions of the 

 West, and while they have, no doubt, served a good purpose, 

 they are at the same time far inferior to many other kinds of 

 our indigenous forest trees. Some of the species have been de- 

 scribed under quite a number of different names, all of which 

 will be found elsewhere, only one being employed in connection 

 with my remarks on each. 



Populns angustlfoliaj James. — Willow-leaved Poplar. — Leaves 

 three to four inches long, taper-pointed, slightly heart-shaped 

 at base, serrate, smooth, shining, bright green. Branches rather 

 slender with smooth bark. Usually a stocky tree with a broad, 

 open, rather graceful head, forty to sixty feet high, with stem 

 two to three feet in diameter. Bark on old trees tliick and 

 deeply furrowed. Wood light-colored, soft and spongy, of little 

 value. A handsome tree, resembling a Willow more than the 

 ordinary Poplars of the East. Common in the canyons of Ari- 

 zona, Northern New Mexico, Colorado, and northward to the 

 Columbia River. 



P. balsamifera. Linn. — Balsam Poplar, Tacamahac, Balm of 

 Gilead. — Leaves ovate, gradually tapering and pointed, some- 

 times heart-shaped, finely serrate, smooth on both sides. 

 Branches round, buds large and covered with a fragrant resin- 

 ous matter, which appears to become volatile on the approach 

 of warm weather, and is widely diffused. There are several 

 natural local varieties of this species, among which are var. P. 

 candicans, Gray, P. nigra, Catesby, etc., etc. A tall, rather 

 pyramidal-shaped tree, along the banks of streams from Wis- 

 consin to New England, and northward to the Arctic regions. 

 A rare tree in forests except far north, but has long been a 

 favorite ornamental tree for planting near dwellings, probably 

 on account of its odoriferous buds, which are supposed to 

 possess valuable medicinal properties, and are often gathered . 

 and used for making an ointment that has a good reputation 



