126 
COMMON WHITE OR GRAY POPLAR. 
been confounded by the inhabitants with the preceding species, which is 
more multiplied : as it surpasses the Aspen in height, I have given it the 
name of Large Aspen. 
It grows as favorably on uplands as on the border of swamps. It is 
about 40 feet high, 10 or 12 inches in diameter, and its straight trunk is 
covered with a smooth, greenish bark, which is rarely cracked. Its branches 
are few and scattered : they ramify and become charged with leaves only 
near the extremity, so that the interior of the summit is void, and of an 
ungraceful appearance. 
At their unfolding in the spring, the leaves are covered with a thick, 
white down, which disappears with their growth, so that at the beginning 
of summer they are perfectly smooth. The full formed leaf is nearly round, 
2 or 3 inches in width, smooth on both sides, and bordered with large 
teeth, from which is derived the Latin specific name of grandidentata , 
given to this species by my father in his Flora Bor eali- Americana. The 
flowers compose aments about 2 inches long, which appear in the infancy 
of the leaves, and which, at this period, are thickly coated with down. 
The wood is light, soft, arid unequal to that of the Virginian and Lom- 
bardy Poplars ; the tree, also, is inferior to these species in size, and in the 
rapidity of its growth. It thus appears to promise no advantage to the 
arts, and to be valuable only for its agreeable foliage. While it is less than 
15 feet in height, it has a pleasing appearance, and it is entitled to a place 
in ornamental gardens. 
PLATE XCIX. 
Fig. II. A leaf of the natural size. 2, A fertile ament with young leaves. 
COMMON WHITE OR GRAY POPLAR. 
Populus canescens. P. foliis subrotundis, angulato-dentatis, subtomentoso-cine- 
rescentibus ; amentis cylindraceis, laxis. 
The Poplars of the Old Continent are less numerous than those of Ame- 
rica. The largest among them are the Great White Poplar and the Com- 
