NARROW LEAVED BALSAM POPLAR. 
53 
purposes. When dry it burns well, but is quickly re- 
duced to ashes. 
Whatever may be the immediate uses of the Narrow 
Leaved Poplar, we must say, that in a country so 
exposed and arid as the Rocky Mountain region, we 
felt grateful for the shade and shelter it so often exclu- 
sively afforded us, with the exception of a few insigni- 
ficant willows, that frequently associate with it. In 
short, we rarely lost sight of this tree, which accompa- 
nied us to the northern sources of the Platte, presented 
itself, as usual, on the alluvial banks of the Colorado of 
the West, along Lewis river, of the Shoshonee, the 
banks of the Oregon from the Walla-Walla to its 
estuary, attaining along the banks of this noble stream, 
and its southern tributary the Wahlamet, an augmen- 
tion so great as to vie in magnitude with the tall Cotton- 
wood of the Mississippi, and to pass amidst the mighty 
forests of the West, as one of the largest deciduous 
leaved trees of the country. We find this species of 
Poplar also on the banks of the Missouri, on the upper 
part of the river, from whence it continues uninter- 
ruptedly to the vallies of the Rocky Mountains. In the 
severity of winter the boughs are collected by the abo- 
rigines to support their horses; the beaver likewise feeds 
upon them by choice. 
Early in the spring the balsamic odour of its resinous 
buds may be perceived far and wide, and the shade of 
its tall, round, and spreading summit invited hosts of 
birds to its branches, particularly the large and fine 
Band-Tailed Pigeon, which feeds with avidity on its 
seed buds in the spring, affording them an abundant 
article of food. 
The lesser branches are rather tough than brittle, 
covered with a smooth yellowish bark. The leaves 
vary on the same branch, in this respect, that the earli- 
