THE ROMANCE OF OUR TREES 
X. THE LOMBARDY POPLAR AND THE BABYLON WILLOW 
ERNEST H. WILSON 
Assistant Director, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University 
Of More Striking Individuality and Dramatic Character than All Other Deciduous Trees, One Is 
Traceable to a Single Modern Ancestor While the Other’s Origin Is Lost In the Mists of Time 
8 jN THE realm of tree life no stronger contrast exists 
than that presented by these two trees. It is true that 
upright and pendulous branching forms occur in other 
trees, but none are fixed in the popular mind so firmly 
as this Poplar and Willow. Their very names conjure up 
mental pictures of the trees and they are known far outside 
the fold of garden lovers. Both are intimately associated with 
mankind in many parts of the 
world. Indeed, it is doubtful 
if any deciduous leafed trees 
have been more widely planted 
on purely aesthetic grounds. 
In the case of the Poplar 
some consider that its planting 
has been over-done — certainly 
it has been planted where it 
should not have been and its 
legitimate uses much abused. 
But this is the fault of man 
and not of the tree. Rightly 
used it is a valuable subject in 
landscape work and quickly 
develops a unique effect. By 
water these trees are comple- 
mentary and create a splendid 
and harmonious effect. 
The Willow has not suffered 
in this respect. With its pend- 
ent branches, lithe and grace- 
ful, and moved by the faintest 
breath of wind it has stirred 
the sentiment of many races of 
mankind. Usually it is associ- 
ated with grief. In Korea it is 
planted to form avenues lead- 
ing to the tombs of royalty. 
And did not Napoleon on St. 
Helena, expiating his crimes, 
sit beneath a Weeping Willow? 
Grieving over his fallen for- 
tunes he may have found sym- 
pathy beneath this tree. Even 
in the cynical expression that 
misery likes company there is 
much truth. Without a doubt 
the picture of Napoleon seated 
under a Willow tree excites 
more sympathy than that of 
Napoleon on the throne of fair 
France. 
An old Chinese book says “the Emperor Yang Ti of the 
Sung dynasty built a great canal a thousand Ii (Chinese 
miles) in length, and encouraged the people to plant Willows 
along its banks. For each tree planted a roll of silk was given 
and the trees were named after the Emperor and called “ Yang- 
liu.” In Japan the highest type of feminine beauty is sym- 
bolized by the Willow for gracefulness, the Cherry blossom for 
youthful charm and the Plum blossom for virtue and sweetness. 
A celebrated Japanese beauty is known as Yanagi-no-Oriu, or 
“Willow-woman’’ and is said to have a Yanagi-koski — willow 
waist — because she is slender and graceful like the branches of 
that tree. Dancers too, are said “to sway like the branches of 
the Willow when wafted by the summer’s breeze.” 
On the “Willow pattern” crockery and porcelain is per- 
petuated the legend of the Chinese maiden Koong Shee who 
loved her father’s secretary, Chang, and ran away with him. A 
similar legend is current in old 
Korean literature. I n our own 
folklore and songs the Willow 
is associated with love, unre- 
quited or forbidden. The note 
of sadness is present and the 
bond of sympathy with the 
tree is ever to the fore. Some- 
one has asserted that the 
beautiful always awakens sad- 
ness and maybe this explains 
why the Willow and grief are 
inseparably linked in the 
poetry and prose of many 
lands. 
HE Poplar on the other 
hand inspires no such 
thoughts. Each and every one 
of its branches grows erect and 
they cluster closely together 
as if afraid to leave the bosom 
of the parent trunk. Rapidly 
it grows and thrusts its narrow 
spire-like crown heavenward. 
Like ambition, it rises to excel 
its fellows and flaunt in the 
breeze far above their heads. 
Trees from ioo to 150 feet tall 
are known — gaunt in winter 
but spires of green in summer. 
Like sentinels they stand and 
dare both the laws of gravity 
and the fury of storms. For 
their great daring they often 
suffer, but so do others of 
great timidity. To watch a 
Lombardy Poplar in a wind 
storm is inspiring. No tree 
puts up a better struggle. It 
bows far over and defiantly 
regains its equilibrium at the 
first lull. Think of the strain 
on its millions of cells; of their elasticity and supple strength. 
Compare them with the buildings erected by man, and their 
superiority in tensile strength is immense. On calm days the 
Lombardy Poplar may 'be considered stiff, even frigidly so, but 
in a storm its grace and litheness are unmistakably shown. 
And why the name Lombardy Poplar? All the trees of this 
Poplar are male and the accepted view is that they have all 
descended by vegetative propagation from a single tree which 
originated on the banks of the River Po in northern Italy, prob- 
POPLARS OF LOMBARDY BESIDE 
THE QUEEN'S COTTAGE AT KEW 
This cottage in Kew Gardens where Queen Victoria used to play offers a sug- 
gestion not only in the use of the trees but in domestic architecture as well 
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