Okder VI. 
DICECIA IIEXANDRIA. 
841 
13957 Leaves obovate entire, Flowers sessile. Calyxes hairy 
OCTANDRIA. 
13958 Lvs. roundish cord, lobed toothed glab. above downy and very white beneath, Fert. catkins ov. Stigmas 4 
13959 Leaves roundish angular-repand toothed hoary beneath, Catkins cylindrical lax 
13960 Leaves roundish toothed with 2 glands at base acuminate smooth : younger silky 
13961 Lvs. nearly orbicul. broadly tooth, glab. on both sides, Petioles compressed, Stigmas 4 auricled at base 
13962 Lvs. roundish ov. acum. subcord. unequally serrat. smooth. Petioles compressed, Branches round smooth 
13963 Lvs. round, ov. acute slightly cord, with equal close serratures smooth a little ciliat. Branches round smooth 
13964 Leaves deltoid acute serrated glabrous on both sides, Fertile catkins cylindrical lax. Stigmas 4 
13965 Leaves rhomboid acuminate toothed smooth. Younger branches hairy 
13966 Leaves smooth on each side acuminate serrate deltoid, broader than long 
13967 Lvs. subcord. smooth glandul. at base, Serrat. cartil. hooked hairy. Nerves spread. Branchl. slightly winged 
towards end compound 
13968 Lvs. subcord. smooth glandul. at base, Serrat. cartil. hooked hairy, Nerves spread. Branchl. winged simple 
m<^()9 Leaves cordate deltoid acuminate bluntly hook-toothed, Branches winged angular 
13970 Leaves ovate acuminate with close serratures white and netted beneath, Buds resinous 
13971 Leaves cordate ovate large somewhat entire pale beneath 
13972 Lvs. cordate ovate acumin. bluntly and unequally serrated white beneath 3-nerved netted. Buds resinous 
13973 Leaves cordate roundish-ovate blunt hook-tbothed : younger downy beneath 
ENNEANDRIJ. 
13974 Stem perfectly simple. Leaves rough, Root creeping perennial 
13975 Stem herbaceous brachiate. Leaves ovate-oblong smooth ciliated, Fls. whorled : male and female mixed 
13976 Stem branched. Branches opposite. Leaves glabrous. Root fibrous annual 
and Miscellaneous Particulars. 
duced from America, seems intermediate between P. nigra and dilatata ; indeed, all the three sorts are by 
some considered as but one species. P. dilatata differs from the common black poplar chieHy in its close 
conical manner of growth, which resembles the cypress. The leaves are greater in breadth than length ; 
whereas in the black poplar the longitudinal diameter is the greatest. Though it generally attains a great 
height, the increase of the trunk is by no means so rapid as in most of the other poplars. It cannot, there- 
fore, be highly recommended as a timber tree. In Italy it is considered pecidiarly adapted for packing-boxes : 
nails do not split it ; and if cases of this wood fall or are thrown carelessly on the ground, it gives way a little, 
and returns to its former position without splitting, which oak and other heavy woods will not do. In Lom- 
bardy all the vessels in which the grapes are carried home in carts from the vineyards, are of poplar plank, 
about two inches thick, and in them the grapes are squeezed. Such vessels last thirty or forty years ; and by 
their lightness are manageable, however large and long. A four-wheeled cart is in general , covered with one 
of them, and it contains about fifteen hundred weight of grapes, each hundred being a hundred pounds of 
thirty ounces. The conic form of the Lombardy poplar, as a deciduous tree, is peculiar. Among evergreens 
we find the same character in the cypress ; and both trees, in many situations, have a good effect. The cypress 
often, among the ruins of ancient (and the buildings of modern) Rom.e, breaks the regularity of a wall or a 
?ediment ; and the poplar lias the effect among deciduous trees of the round-headed kind. One beauty the 
talian poplar possesses which is almost peculiar to it ; and that is the waving line it forms when agitated by 
the wind. Most trees, in these circumstances, are partially agitated ; one side is at rest while the other is in mo- 
tion ; but the Italian poplar waves in one single sweep from the top to the bottom, like an ostrich-feather on a 
lady's head. All the branches coincide in the motion, and the least blast makes an impression upon it when 
other trees are at rest. 
P. balsamifera is a moderate sized conical tree, a native both of Siberia and America. The buds of this 
tree, from autumn to the leafing season, are covered with abundance of a glutinous yellow balsam, which 
often collects into drops, and is pressed from the tree for medical use. This balsam is brought to Europe from 
Canada in shells. It is smooth, of an even texture, a yellowish color, and a fragrant scent. In Siberia a 
medicated wine is prepared from the buds, which is diuretic, and esteemed by the inhabitants serviceable in 
the scurvy. The grouse and other birds of that family feeding on these buds during winter, acquire a 
flavor which is much esteemed by epicures. P. candicans bears a general resemblance to the preceding 
species ; and, like it, the buds are covered with a resinous tenacious balsam. The other American species are 
rapid-growing bulky timber-trees, well calculated for immediate effect and utility ; but ali the species being 
short-lived when compared with oaks, elms, and other slower-growing hard-wooded trees, confer a temporary 
premature character on landscape ; for nothing can be great and lasting but what advances by degrees. Such 
poplars as do not grow freely from cuttings of the shoots, are most rapidly increased by cuttings of the roots ; 
but the largest plants are produced from layers. 
2087. Mercurialis. Mercury is said to have discovered the virtues of this plant. Bohmer, indeed, in his Lex- 
icon, says, after Ambrosinus, that the name is a corruption oi tnuliercularis, as being useful to women ; but the 
Greeks cail itisjA^ ■ro(x,, which is the same as Mercurialis in its mythological sense. M. perennis is not eaten by any 
quadruped, and is poisonous to men and sheep. The plant on being dried turns blue, and steeped in water it 
