CHAP. CIII.

SALICA'CEfE. PO'PULUS.

1661

banks, and carries off part of the surface soil, so as to expose that which haslain covered for many years, “ a great quantity of black poplars always springup ; and among them are many of the cypress, or Lombardy, poplars.” ( Gard.Mag., vol. xii. p. 569.) Signor Manetti, from whom we quote, adds: “ Theseseeds have lain buried in the soil for many years, and were, no doubt, producedby the forests which once covered the banks of the Po, the remains of whichare still to be found in many places.” (Ibid.) To us it appears not impro-bable, that the plants alluded to may have sprung up from seeds distributedby the winds the same season, as the fresh soil would form a very favourablenidus for their reception. The Lombardy, or cypress, poplar is said to be also anative of Persia and the Himalayas, and to have been mentioned by Avicenna.Morier found it abundant in Persia; of which country Bose and some otherbotanists consider it a native, and thence to have been introduced into Italy.The first avenue of Lombardy poplars planted there, Bose observes, wasbetween Milan and Pavia; and the date of this avenue could, doubtless, beobtained from the municipal documents of either or both of these cities. Itis singular, that the Lombardy poplar was not introduced into Tuscany till1805; a circumstance which appears to us strongly in favour of the sup-position of its not being indigenous to Lombardy, or any part of Italy.So remarkable a tree could not have escaped the notice of the Roman agri-cultural writers; and would, undoubtedly, have been recorded by Pliny, if ithad been known in Europe in his day. Into France it was introduced in