the Poplar: A genus of the oëlandria order, belonging to the dicæa class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 50th order, Amenaceae. The calyx of the amentum is a lacerated, oblong, and squamous leaf; the corolla is turbinated, oblique, and entire. The female has the calyx of the amentum and corolla the same as in the male; the stigma is quadrifid; the capsule bilocular, with many papous seeds.

The poplar, one of the most beautiful of the aquatic trees, has frequently been introduced into the poetical descriptions of the ancients; as by Virgil, Ec. vii. 66. ix. 41. Georg. ii. 66. iv. 511. Æn. viii. 31. 276. by Ovid, Amor. Parid. 27. by Horace, Carm. ii. 3. and by Catulus, Nupt. Pil. et Thet. 290, &c. &c.

Species. 1. The alba, or able-tree, grows naturally in the temperate parts of Europe. Its leaves are large, and divided into three, four, or five lobes, indented on their edges, of a very dark colour on their upper side, but very white and downy on the under side; standing upon footstalks an inch long. The young branches have a purple bark, and are covered with a white down; but the bark of the stem and older branches is grey. In the beginning of April, the male flowers or catkins appear, which are cylindrical, and about three inches long. About a week after come out the female flowers or catkins, which have no stamina like those of the male. Soon after these come out, the male catkins fall off; and in five or six weeks after the female flowers will have ripe seeds inclosed in a hairy covering. The catkins will then drop, and the seeds be wafted by the winds to a great distance. 2. The major, or white poplar, has its leaves rounder than the first, and not much above half their size: they are indented on their edges, and are downy on their under side, but not so white as those of the former, nor are their upper surfaces of such a deep green colour. 3. The nigra, or black poplar, has oval heart-shaped leaves, slightly crenated on their edges; they are smooth on both sides, and of a light green colour. 4. The tremula, or aspen-tree, has roundish, angularly indented leaves: they are smooth on both sides, and stand on long footstalks, and so are shaken by the least wind; from whence it has the title of the trembling poplar, or aspen-tree. 5. The balsamifer, or Carolina poplar, is a native of Carolina, where it becomes a large tree. The shoots of this sort grow very strong in Britain, and are generally angular; with a light green bark like the willow. The leaves on young trees, and also those on the lower shoots, are very large, almost heart-shaped, and crenated; but those upon the older trees are smaller: as the trees advance, their bark becomes lighter, approaching to a greyish colour. 6. The tamarack, grows naturally in Canada and other parts of North America. This is a tree of a middling growth, sending out on every side many short thick shoots, which are covered with a light brown bark, garnished with leaves differing from one another in shape and size; most of them are almost heart-shaped; but some are oval, and others nearly spear-shaped; they are whitish on their under side, but green on their upper.

Culture. These trees may be propagated either by layers or cuttings, as also from suckers which the white poplars send up from their roots in great plenty. The best time for transplanting these suckers is in October, when their leaves begin to decay. These may be placed in a nursery for two or three years, to get strength before they are planted out where they are designed to remain; but if they are propagated from cuttings, it is better to defer the doing of that until February, at which time truncheons of two or three feet long should be thrust about a foot and a half into the ground.—These will readily take root; and if the soil in which they are planted be moist, they will arrive at a considerable bulk in a few years. The black poplar is less apt to take root from large truncheons; therefore it is a better method to plant cuttings of it about a foot and a half in length, thrusting them a foot deep in the ground. This sort will grow almost on any soil, but will thrive best in moist places. The Carolina poplar may also be propagated by cuttings or layers; but the last is the method generally practised, and the plants raised wafted by it are less moist than others. The shoots of this tree, while young, are frequently killed down to a considerable length by the frost in winter; but as the trees grow older, their shoots are not so vigorous, and become more ligneous, so are not liable to the same disaster. But the trees should be planted in a sheltered situation: for as their leaves are very large, the wind has great power over them; and the branches being tender, they are frequently broken or split by the winds in summer, when they are much exposed. The tamarindaca sends up a great number of suckers from its roots, by which it multiplies in plenty; and every cutting which is planted will take root.

Uses. The wood of these trees, especially of the abele, is good for laying floors, where it will last for many years; and on account of its extreme whiteness is by many preferred to oak; yet, on account of its soft contexture, being very subject to take the impression of nails, &c., it is less proper on this account than the harder woods. The abele likewise deserves particular notice, on account of the virtue of its bark in curing intermittent fevers. The Reverend Mr Stone, in Phil. Trans. vol. LIII. p. 195, tells us, that he gathers the bark in summer when it is full of sap, and having dried it by a gentle heat, gives a dram powdered every four hours betwixt the fits. In a few obstinate cases, he mixed one-fifth part of Peruvian bark with it. It is remarkable how nature has adapted remedies to diseases. Intermittent fevers are most prevalent in wet countries; and this tree grows naturally in such situations. The bark of it is an object well worthy the attention of physicians; and if its success upon a more enlarged scale of practice prove equal to Mr Stone's experiments, the world will be much indebted to him for communicating them. This bark will also tan leather.

The inner bark of the black poplar is used by the inhabitants of Kamchatka as a material for bread; and paper has sometimes been made of the cottony down of the seeds. The roots have been observed to dissolve into a kind of gelatinous substance, and to be coated over with a tubular crustaceous spar, called by naturalists offecella*, formerly imagined to have some virtue in producing the callus of a fractured bone. The buds of the fifth species are covered with a glutinous resin, which smells very strong, and is the gum tamarindaca of the shops. The balsam, called, from its being collected in a kind of gourd-shells, tamarindaca in fibris, is somewhat unctuous and foetid, of a pale yellowish or greenish colour, an aromatic taste, and a fragrant delightful smell, approaching to that of lavender or ambergris. This sort is very rare; that commonly found in the shops is semitransparent globes or grains, of a whitish, yellowish, brownish, or greenish colour, of a less grateful smell than the foregoing. This resin is said to be employed externally by the Indians for dissolving and maturing tumours, and abating pains in the limbs. It is an ingredient in some anodyne, hysteric, cephalic, and stomacal plasters; but the fragrance of the finer sort sufficiently points out its utility in other respects.

M. Fougeroux de Bondaroy, from a lot of experiments on the subject, gives an account of the uses of the several kinds of poplar, the substance of which is as follows: He finds that the wood of the black poplar is good and useful for many purposes; that the Lombardy poplar, populus fajigata, is of very little value; that the Virginia poplar, populus Virginiana, affords a wood of excellent quality, that may be applied to many uses. The Carolina poplar, populus Carolinensis—hostrophilla, (Linn.) is a very quick grower; beautiful when found, but liable to be hurt by cold. Its wood appeared to M. de Bondaroy to be of little value; but M. Maleherbes, who cut down a large tree of this sort, was assured by his carpenter that the wood was very good.—That the tamarindaca, populus tamarindaca balsamifera, is a dwarfish plant (a), of little value.—That the liard, populus Canadensis, is a large tree, the wood light, not easy to be split, and fit for several uses.—That the white poplar, populus alba, is a large growing tree, affording a wood of excellent quality, and is among the most valuable of this species.—That the trembling poplar, populus tremula, (Linn.) is neither so large a tree nor affords such wood as the former. These are in few words the principal result of the experiments of this gentleman on this class of plants. A few other sorts are mentioned, but nothing decisive with regard to them is determined.

From some experiments made by M. Dambourney, it appears that the poplar may be usefully employed in dyeing. The Italian poplar gives a dye of as fine a lute, and equally durable, as that of the finest yellow wood, and its colour is more easily extracted. It is likewise very apt to unite with other colours in composition. Beside the populus fajigata, M. Dambourney tried also the black poplar, the Virginian ditto, the balsam ditto or liard, the white ditto, and the trembling poplar; and found that all these dyed wool of a nut-colour, fawn-colour (vivogné), Nankin, mink, and other grave shades, according to the quantity of wood employed, and the length of time it was boiled.

POQUELIN or Pocquelin (John Baptist.) See Molieré.