486 OCTATNDRIA. MONOGYNIA. Populus, 
P. al/ba. Leaves roundish, heart-shaped, toothed, angular: cottony 
underneath: (catkinsovate. E.) 
Hunt. Evel. 208; i. p. 201. Ed. ii.—( E. Bot. 1618. E.)— Sped, de la Nat. 
31. 2. at ii. p. 292— Nat. Delin. 20. 2. at ii. p. 312 —Mattli. 136— Cam. 
Epit. 65— J. B. 1. b. 160. 1— Ger. 1301. 1— Dod. 835— Ger. Em. 1486. 1 
—Park. 1410. 1 —Lob. Obs. 609. 1 —Ic. ii. 193. I—Gars. 467. A. a. 
Tree very tall. Leaves without glands, either at the base or serratures. 
Flowers exactly similar to those of P. tremula. Linn. Leaves smooth and 
blackish green above, with a white dense cotton underneath. Ray. Leaf¬ 
stalks flatted, and grooved on each side. Leaves less circular than trian¬ 
gular. (Boots spreading horizontally, and throwing up numerous young 
plants. Bark smooth, greenish grey, blended with darker shades, and 
highly ornamental. E.) 
White Poplar. Abele Tree. (Welsh: Aethnen wen. E.) Hedges, 
woods, and near brooks. T. March.* * 
Var. 2. Leaves smaller. Ray. (not snow-white, but grey underneath. E.) 
quently observed Erysiphe adunca. Grev. Scot. Crypt. 296. “ Primary flocci effused, 
white, the radical ones simple, straight, equal in length, closely hooked at the apex, at 
length incurved and elevated.” Before maturity appearing only as a delicate, effused, 
white web. Considered “ the most beautiful of the genus ; under a pocket magnifier resem¬ 
bling little sparkling stars.” The leaves of P. nigra and tremula are subject to Uredo 
Populi , “ scattered, slightly elevated, roundish, orange coloured.” Purt. t. 27; also to 
Erineum Populinum, Grev. Scot. Crypt. 250, “in patches, scattered, semiglobate, pur¬ 
plish, changing to reddish brown : filaments not very perceptible.” E.) 
* (Neither this species nor P. nigra are considered aborigines. Turner, in 1568, says of 
White Aspen, “ I remember not that ever I saw it in any place in England.” Gerard, 
thirty years later, observed a few, and there appears to be no old English name for these 
trees. Abele, is derived from the low Dutch abeel, descriptive of its hoary or aged colour. 
—A general importation of these trees, according to Hartlib, took place about 1659, a 
short time previous to which date, ten thousand Abeles were brought from Flanders, and 
transplanted into several English counties. The full-grown trees are truly beautiful, both 
in trunk, foliage, and general form. Evelyn states “ the wood of the White Poplar is 
sought of the sculptor. Of this material they also made shields of defence in sword and 
buckler days.” The same author adds, “ In three years they will come to an incredible 
altitude; in twelve be as big as your middle; and in eighteen or twenty arrive at full 
perfection : for which celerity we may recommend them to such late builders as seat their 
houses in naked and unsheltered places, and that would put a guise of antiquity upon any 
new enclosure, since by these, whilst a man is on a voyage of no long continuance, his 
house and lands may be so covered as to be hardly known at his return.” One of the 
most picturesque specimens of this tree that has fallen under our observation, grows beside 
a lane which bounds the pleasure grounds of T. R. Thornton, Esq. at Brockhall, North¬ 
amptonshire. Mr. Winch informs us that the White Poplar is remarkable for withstanding 
the north-east winds, so detrimental to vegetation on the coast of Northumberland and 
Durham. The Abele deserves particular notice on account of the virtue of its bark in 
curing intermitting fevers ; (vid. a paper by the Rev.-Stone in Phil. Tr. v. liii.) an 
instance of the manner in which nature has adapted remedies to diseases, such fevers being 
most prevalent in wet countries, and this tree growing principally in the like situations. 
This bark will also tan leather. Poplar and Abele were classed by Vitruvius among the 
timbers “ quae maximk in aedificiis sunt idoneae.” E.) The Abele loves low situations, and 
flourishes best in clay. It grows quickly, and bears cropping, but is unfavourable to pas¬ 
turage, The wood is soft, white, and stringy, and makes good wainscotting, being but 
little subject to swell or shrink. Floors, laths, packing boxes, and turners’ wares are 
made of it. Horses, sheep, and goats eat it. Cows are not fond of it. 
