Part 13

PLATE XIII

THE WHITE POPLAR OR ABELE TREE

In the old Greek legends we read that Hercules won a victory over Kakos on Mount Aventine. On the mountain grew a thick grove of Poplar trees, and Hercules, overjoyed with his triumph, bound a branch of the graceful leaves around his brow as a sign of victory. Soon afterwards he went down into the infernal regions, the place of tears and gloom, and when he came back to earth it was seen that the upper side of his leafy garland was darkened with the smoke of Hades, but that the under-side of the leaves had been washed silver white with the sweat which streamed from his brow. Ever since that day the leaves of the Aventine Poplar grow white on the under-side, and in course of time its seeds were brought by travellers to Britain, and the tree has taken kindly to our less sunny land. So the tale runs.

THE WHITE POPLAR

1. White Poplar or Abele Tree 2. Leaf Spray 3. Seed Catkin 4. Stamen Catkin]

It is by these dark green leaves with their thick white lining that you will always know the White Poplar or Abele tree (1), and when you learn how many relations it has, and how closely they resemble each other, you will be glad to have this marked distinction by which you may easily know this member of the family.

The Poplar, like the Willows, prefers to grow in damp places. The most perfect trees are found in meadows close to a river. In France the people plant them along the river banks, and from far away you can trace the windings of the water by the tall Poplar spires which edge its banks.

The Poplars are very fast-growing trees; they will shoot up to a great height in the life-time of a man, and for this reason they are often planted where a screen is quickly required. The lower part of the trunk is dark and is deeply furrowed, but the upper is a dingy yellow colour, and on it there are many black streaks.

Early in March the White Poplar begins to flower. It is one of the catkin-bearing trees, and high on the upper branches there dance and dangle long slender woolly tails of a purplish red colour. These are the stamen catkins (4), and you must pick one to pieces and see how beautifully it is made.

The stamens are grouped together in little bunches of from eight to thirty on a round disc, and at the foot of this disc, on one side, rises a scale which is green on the lower half and reddish brown on the upper half. This scale is deeply and irregularly toothed all round the edge, and is surrounded with fine silk which stands up like a fan. These bunches of stamens are placed all round the catkin tail, with the scales nearly covering the purple stamen heads. As soon as the pollen dust in the stamen heads is ripe and the wind has shaken it out of their dust-bags, the catkin shrivels and falls to the ground. You will find the ground strewn with them in early spring.

But the White Poplar has another catkin flower which bears the seeds, and this flower grows on a separate tree. These seed catkins (3) are stouter and shorter, and are not nearly so noticeable as the long stamen catkins. The green seed-vessel sits in a tiny cup, and on the top of the seed you see a cross of four yellow rays. On one side of the cup rises a scale which is brown at the upper edge and is fringed with down as in the stamen catkin. The wind brings the stamen dust to the four yellow rays on the top of the little seed-vessel, but if there should be no stamen-bearing trees growing near, then the White Poplar can produce no new seeds; it remains barren.

The leaves (2) of the White Poplar are triangular in shape and are deeply jagged all round. When in bud the sides of the leaf are rolled towards the centre, so that the under-side of the leaf, with its thick white lining, is turned outward. The young branches and buds are also thickly covered with fine white down.

The Poplar leaves never seem to be still; they dance and sparkle in the sunshine, and even on quiet days you will see them fluttering. In autumn these leaves turn golden yellow before they fall.

The wood of the White Poplar is too quickly grown to be very durable. It is largely used for making children’s toys, because it does not readily split when nails are driven into it. It will not burn easily, and for this reason it makes good floors for dwelling-houses.

Besides the White Poplar or Abele tree there are two other Poplars which are fairly common in this country. One is the Lombardy Poplar, which grows tall and slender like a church spire; its branches rise upward like the flame of a torch, and the tree trunk is clothed to the very ground with withered branches, which never spread outwards, but grow close to the main stem. There is no difficulty in recognising the Lombardy Poplar.

The Black Poplar is also common in many parts of Britain. Its leaves are not lined with white; they are heart-shaped, with no jagged edges, but with dainty little teeth cut evenly all round. The heads of the stamens, which grow in groups on the catkin tail, are very dark purple, and they hang from the end of twigs, which are rough with the scars of last year’s leaves.

PLATE XIV

THE ASPEN

“Variable as the shade By the light, quivering aspen made.”

--Scott.

The Aspen (1) is a member of the Poplar family, and in many ways it resembles its cousins. But you will always know an Aspen tree by its leaves (2). These are never still unless when a storm is brooding and the air is perfectly calm; at all other times they shake and quiver incessantly, and you can hear the gentle rustle they make as each leaf rubs against its neighbour. In the Scottish Highlands the country people tell you that the Aspen trembles because at the Crucifixion the cross of Christ was made of Aspen, and the tree must always shudder at the recollection of the cruel purpose it served.

THE ASPEN

1. Aspen Tree 2. Leaf Spray 3. Stamen Catkins 4. Seed Catkin]

The Aspen is usually found growing in copses, or in meadow lands, where it flourishes best in a damp soil; but it is also found on mountain ground, and is very common in the north of Scotland. It is not a long-lived tree: the heart of it begins to decay after fifty or sixty years, just at the age when many of our most familiar trees are at their finest. The wood is very soft, and is of little use either for building or for manufacturing purposes; but it is beautifully white, and sculptors use it for decorative carving; also many of the wooden blocks required by engravers for printing are made of Aspen wood.

The Aspen is one of our catkin-bearing trees. Early in spring you will see dangling on the branches long fluffy tails, which you must pluck and examine carefully. There are two kinds of flowering catkins on the Aspen, and both kinds may be found growing on the same tree. Sometimes you find them close beside each other on the same branch.

In the stamen catkin (3) you see many bunches of tiny stamens with bluey-purple heads: these bunches are dotted all over the catkin tail, and each stamen bunch is nearly hidden by a large scale which rises at one side. This scale is green in the lower half and pale brown in the upper half, and its edges are cut into deep jagged points. This jagged scale lies above the stamen bunch, so that you can just see their heads appearing under the torn edge of the scale. Each stamen is surrounded by a mass of soft grey woolly down, which makes all the catkin look fluffy and silky.

The seed catkin (4) of the Aspen looks much the same as the stamen catkin; it is a long, dangling fat tail, covered with fluffy grey down; but it has no stamens. This catkin bears the seed-vessels, and each seed-vessel resembles a small green pea sitting in a tiny green cup. This pea splits open at the top, and you see four pale pink points rising from the opening. These points are waiting for the stamen dust to reach them, and as soon as that happens they shrivel and disappear; then the seed busies itself in preparing the new plant. Above each green seed-vessel there stands a scale with the edge cut into large torn-looking points. These scales nearly cover the seed-vessel, and they look like brown splashes on the bed of soft fluffy down.

When the seeds are ripe the catkins fall from the tree; the seeds separate from the tail, and the wind blows them a long distance by the aid of the fluffy down which surrounds each seed.