THE POPLARS. 
59 
are shorter and do not droop. When the roundish capsules 
burst in May or June to distribute their seeds, the white cotton 
with which the latter are invested gives prominence to the 
female tree. The wood is chiefly used by the turner ; in 
Holland, where it is extensively cultivated, it provides the 
material for sabots. The Black Poplar is not a native of this 
country, but it is generally distributed throughout Europe and 
Northern Asia. The date of its introduction is not known, but 
it has been here for many centuries, and is quite naturalized, 
springing up on river banks and in other moist situations. 
Some botanists regard it as only a variety of the Lombardy 
Poplar, but apart from the very different habit of the tree — not 
