Poplar

a familiar tree of the north temperate zone. There are twenty-five or thirty species. In England the poplar often goes by the name of aspen. The leaves of an aspen or poplar have leaf-stalks so narrow in proportion to their height that the leaves sway sideways easily and flutter in the slightest breeze. Hence the expression "tremble like an aspen." Poplar wood is white and easily carved. It is a favorite material for woodenware. In the United States and Canada printing paper is made from poplar with the admixture of spruce pulp to give toughness. The cottonwood and balm of Gilead are near relatives of the poplars, and willows are not far distant. The flowers of the whole family resemble those of the willow. The cottonwood is a kind of quick-growing poplar, invaluable as a wind break on the prairies where other trees do not grow well, but not desirable as a park tree on account of the "cotton" which flies incessantly when the seed pods burst. In June wind carries the seed hundreds of miles. The poplar accompanies the willow and the birch to the northern limit of trees.