CHAP. cm.
salica'cete. po'pulus.
1671
Synonymcs. P. angulbsa Michx. FI. Bor. Amer 2. p. 243.; P . heteroph^Ua Du Rot Harbk., 2.p. 150., Mcench fVeissenst., 80., Wangenh. Amer., 85.; P. macroph^lla Lodd. Cat., edit. 1836;P. balsami fera Mill. Diet., No. 5.; Mississippi Cotton Tree, Amer.
The Sexes. A plant at Ampton Hall, Suffolk, and one in the London Horticultural Society’s arbo-retum, are both of the male sex. Michaux the elder has briefly described the flowers of both sexes,in his FI. Bor. Amer. ; but, as Michaux the son states, in his North Amer. Sylva, that his fatherhad confounded P. angu&ta and P. canadensis together in his Flora , we cannot be sure that thepart descriptive of the flowers under P. angul&ta relates to this. It is given below, in the suppositionthat it may.
Engravings. Michx. Arb., 3. t. 12. ; North Amer. Sylva, 2. t. 94.; Du Ham. Arb., 2. t. 39. f. 9.;Catesb. Carol., 1. t. 39.; our Jig. 1533.; and the plates of this tree in our last Volume.
Spec. Char.. Sfc. Bud not resinous, green. Shoot angled, with wings.Disk of leaf ovate, deltoid, acuminate, toothed with blunt teeth that havethe point incurved, glabrous : upon the more vigorous shoots, the disk isheart-shaped, and very large. ( Pursh , and Michx. jun.) The elder Michaux’sdescription of the flowers under P. angulata is as follows :—“ Male flowerspolyandrous; female flowers rather distantly placed upon the rachis, glabrous;the ovary subglobose.” This description is liable to the exception abovenoted. In Martyn’s Miller, the male catkins are said to be like those of P.nigra, and the anthers purple. P. angulata, in North America, is, accordingto Pursh, a tree about 80 ft. high; its branches are very brittle, and its leavesare very large. It is wild in morasses on the banks of rivers between Virginiaand Florida, and on the Mississippi. Introduced into England in 1738, andflowering in March.
Varieties.
i P. a. 2 nova Audibert. — The plant of this variety in the London Hor-ticultural Society’s Garden being only 2 ft. high, we are unable tostate in what respect it differs from the species.
31 P. a. 3 Medusae Booth. — A plant in Messrs. Loddiges’s collection,received under this name, in 1836, from Messrs. Booth of Hamburg,is not yet quite 1 ft. in height.
Description, fyc. The shoots of this species, when young, are extremelysucculent; and, as they continue growing late in the summer, they arefrequently killed down several inches by the autumnal frosts. After thetree has attained theheight of 20 ft. or30 ft., which, in theclimate of London, itdoes in five or sixyears, this is no longerthe case; because theshoots produced areshorter and less suc-culent, and, of course, better ripened. According to Michaux, the leaves,when they first unfold, are smooth and brilliant, 7 in. to 8 in. long on youngplants, and as much in breadth; while on trees 30 ft. or 40 ft. high theyare only one fourth the size. The petiole, compressed in the upper part,renders the leaves easily agitated by the wind. “ The annual shoots onyoung trees are very thick, distinctly striated, and of a green colour spottedwith white; on branches of the second, third, and even of the seventh oreighth, years, the traces of the furrows are still observable: they are indicatedby prominent red lines in the bark, terminating at the insertion of the youngshoots, which ultimately disappear with the growth of the branches. Thischaracter belongs also to the cotton-wood ( P. canadensis); but, besides thedifference of their general appearance, the two species are distinguished bytheir buds : those of the Carolina poplar (P. angulata) are short, of a deepgreen, and destitute of the resinous substance which covers those of thecotton-wood (P. canadensis), and of which the vestiges remain till late in theseason. The wood of P. angulata is white, soft, and considered of little usein North America. As an ornamental tree, it forms a very stately object’;but, from the brittleness of the branches, they are very liable to be torn offby high winds. In the climate of Paris, the points of the shoots of the ter-