OCTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. Populus. 485 
POP'ULUS. Flowers barren and fertile in catkins on distinct 
plants. Calyx scales ragged: Floss. turban-shaped, 
mouth entire, oblique. Fart. FI. Summit four-cleft: 
Caps, two-celled: Seeds many, downy. # 
* (Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Catullus, and other Roman poets, have in various passages 
celebrated the Poplar ; nor has it been less distinguished by Homer. These descriptions 
probably allude, (though not exclusively), to the aspiring Lombardy or Po Poplar, which 
rises from the plains of Italy to an astonishing height, at least rivalling in majestic simplicity 
the far-famed Cypress. These towering trees were deemed sacred to Hercules, “ Populus 
Alcidae gratissima,” and were considered emblems of courage, as the legend has it, in 
consequence of his vanquishing Cacus in a Poplar grove ; but, according to our interpreta¬ 
tion, from his having destroyed the monster with the massive trunk, fit baton for a super¬ 
human power. Certain it is that the votaries of that deity were decked with chaplets 
entwined from such trees ; and the altars adorned in like manner : 
“ Turn Salii ad cantus, incensa altaria circum, 
Populeis adsunt evincti tempora rarais.” iEn. viii. 
- “ A double wreath Evander twin’d, 
And Poplars black and white his temples bind. Virg. 
Poplars in general are naturally addicted to moist fertile soils or the banks of rivers, 
ft Populus in fluviis—” 
“ The Poplar trembling o’er the silver flood : ” 
Though they do not refuse to flourish in dryer situations. So much sustenance, however, 
do they derive from moisture, that by the vast extension of the roots of these aquatics, and 
their power of imbibing water, boggy places have been in a considerable degree drained, 
and also superficially improved by the accumulated foliage. In waste lands, unfit for 
tillage, Poplars may be grown to advantage, the several kinds affording useful building 
materials, the more desirable for the erection of cottages and stables, as little liable to take 
fire. “ A red-hot poker falling on a board of Abele,” affirms Mr. Salisbury, “ would burn its 
way through it without causing more combusiion than that of the hole through which it 
passed.” Hunter in Evelyn observes, “ boards made of Poplar are durable if kept dry, and the 
poles make tolerable spars after the bark has been carefully removed ; ” adding a remark, 
the accuracy of which the Editor can confirm, that *' the bark, when permitted to remain 
upon poles of soft wood, harbours animalculae, which in time eat away the strength of the 
timber.” The buds in early spring, when pressed between the fingers, yield a balsamic 
resinous substance, which, extracted by spirit of wine, smells like storax. The cot¬ 
ton down which covers the seeds was by Schaeffer converted into paper, but other more 
abundant materials are obviously preferable. “Groves of Poplar, (and also of Willow), 
even in England, in hot calm weather, exhibit the phenomenon of drops of clear water 
trickling from their leaves, like a slight shower of rain : which must be considered as a 
condensation of their insensible evaporation.” Wonders of the Vegetable Kingdom. In the 
cultivation of dioecious vegetables, (and the remark is particularly applicable to several of 
our forest trees), the advantage of intermixing the stameniferous and pistilliferous kinds 
has been experimentally proved, rendering the plants far more vigorous than when they 
are kept entirely separate. E.)—The several species support the following insects: 
Sphinx Populi, Phalama Vinula , Populi, fascelhia, (Orange Underwing Moth) : Aphis 
Populi: Chrysomela Polita, Populi; Curculio Tortrix ; Cimex Populi. (Also on the 
Poplar may be found Geometra rufifasciata, Noctua libatrix, Notodonta palpina, trepida, 
and ziczac, Centra Vinula, Noctua Jlavicornis, Clostera cur tula, Phalcma. ( Noctua ) 
gemma, which towards October prepares for transformation by enclosing itself between 
two leaves whose edges it unites by numerous threads; and the larva of Sphinx apiformis 
and vespiformis feed in the bark of the Poplar-tree, the latter changing to a pupa in the cavity 
it has eaten out. From the resinous buds of different species of Poplar, Fir, and Birch, the 
bee provides the gummy material called propolis, which she employs not only in finishing 
the combs, but also in rendering every chink or orifice impervious to weather or the 
enemy. On the leaves of various species of Poplar, as also Willows, &c. may be fre- 
