Saturday, February 28, 2009

Aspen and White Poplar

By Audrey Christopher

Members of Lawson Cypress genus are natives of North America and Asia. Best known in Europe is the Lawson cypress, introduced there from America in 1854. It has a narrow, conical crown and reaches a height of up to 60 metres. It greatly resembles the 'arbor-vitae but differs from them in having pendulous terminal shoots, with reddish- brown, scaly bark, narrow white markings on the underside of twigs, and scale-like needles. The greenish female flowers are borne on the tips of the shoots. The cones, green at first, mature in September when they open to release the small, winged seeds.

It reaches heights of 25 to 30 metres and has a sparse, highly placed crown. The bark is smooth and coloured greenish grey, but old trees have fissured blackish bark at the lower part of the trunk. The buds on the twigs are lustrous-brown and sharply pointed. The aspen is a dioecious species (male and female flowers on separate trees). It flowers in March and the tiny seeds, imbedded in cottonwool-like hairs, are shed in late May. The leaf stalk is long and flattened, and even a slight breeze sets the leaf in motion. The aspen is a light-demanding tree and does not require rich soil.

The balsam poplars are indigenous to North America and Asia. The one most commonly cultivated in Europe is Populus balsamifera L., a native of North America, where it grows on alluvial bottomlands in the northern United States and in Cahada. The name is derived from the pleasant balsam smell of the opening buds and leaves. It grows to a height of 30 metres and has yellow-grey bark, thick and furrowed, and coloured blackish at the base of the trunk.

The twigs are yellow-brown to brown, the buds covered with a layer of balsam resin. The flowers and fruit are very much like those of the white poplar. The balsam poplar is a light-demanding tree that requires considerable moisture.

In Europe it is cultivated mainly in parks for its ornamental, light-coloured bark and pleasant scent in spring. Planted occasionally in hill country is the western balsam poplar (Populus trichocarpa Torr. et Grey), a native of western North America. A northern Chinese poplar (Populus simouii Carr.), a native of China and Manchuria, is more frequently planted as a street and shade tree in European cities.

The white poplar grows in regions with a mild climate. It requires abundant light and ample moisture, and stands up well to flood water and slightly acidic soils. It is very attractive as an open- grown tree in water meadows, and, because of its vast root system, is used also to strengthen sand dunes. In intensive forest management it is being replaced by cultivated forms of black poplars. The wood is soft, and used to make cellulose and for turnery. The pyramidal form from Turkestan, known as Populus alba pyramidalis (syn. bolleana), often makes its appearance in parks. - 16035

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