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• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Distribution
• Growth
• Similar Species
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Taxonomy

Physical Description

Family Salicaceae:

Trees or shrubs, deciduous or rarely evergreen, dioecious, rarely polygamous. Leaves alternate, rarely subopposite, usually petiolate, simple; stipules persistent or caducous. Catkins erect or pendulous; each flower usually with a cupular disc or 1 or 2(or 3) nectariferous glands. Male flowers with 2-many stamens; filaments filiform, free or united; to connate; anthers 2(or 4) -loculed, dehiscing longitudinally. Female flowers with 1 pistil, sessile or stipitate; ovary superior, 1- or 2-loculed; ovules several to many, anatropous, with a 1 integument; style 1, 2 in Chosenia; stigmas 2-4. Capsule dehiscing by 2-4(or 5) valves; placenta and inside wall of ovary with long hairs. Seeds 4-numerous, glabrous; hairs and seeds simultaneously deciduous when capsule matures.

Three genera and about 620 species: mainly N hemisphere, a few in S hemisphere; three genera and 347 species (236 endemic) in China, including at least nine hybrids and at least one introduced species.^[1]

Genus Populus:

Trees; trunk usually straight; bark furrowed or smooth, often gray or tan; pith mostly 5-angled in cross section. Terminal bud terete or angled; bud scales several, unequal. Stipules small, deciduous; petiole terete or laterally compressed; leaf blade usually ovate to deltoid-ovate. Flowering precocious; catkins pendulous. Flowers anemophilous; bracts apically lobed or laciniate, membranous, caducous; flowers with disc obliquely cupular. Male flower: stamens 4-many; filaments short, free; anthers dull red. Female flower: ovary 1-loculed; style 1, short or not; stigmas 2-4. Capsule 2-4(or 5) -valved. Seeds few to numerous, small. Cotyledons elliptic.

About 100 species: N Africa, Asia, Europe, North America; 71 species (47 endemic) in China, including at least nine hybrids.

The taxonomy of Populus in China, at species level, is at a preliminary stage. To reach an adequate understanding, it is necessary to make direct observations in natural populations of all morphological variations between individuals, for all species and at all seasonal developmental stages. Moreover, other methods beyond morphological studies need to be applied, especially anatomic and chemotaxonomic analyses.^[2]

Habit: Deciduous.

Flowers: Bloom Period: January, February.

Distribution

Growth

Culture: Space 30-40' apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 1, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Populus:

There are approximately 804 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: P. deltoides wislizeni · P. fremontii mesetae · P. fremontii wislizeni · P. mexicana dimorpha · P. tremula grandidentata · P. albo-tremula · P. ambigua · P. andrewsii · P. barnesii · P. bernardii · P. berolinensis · P. brayshawii · P. charbinensis · P. charkowiensis · P. dutillyi · P. gileadensis (Poplars) · P. heimburgeri · P. hybrida · P. inopina · P. intercurrens · P. jackii · P. jrtyschensis · P. parryi · P. polygonifolia · P. pseudocanadensis · P. robusta · P. rouleauana · P. rouleauiana · P. sennii · P. smithii · P. steiniana · P. wettsteinii · P. wilsocarpa · P. xiaohei · P. xiaozhuanica · P. '#6' (Brooks Poplar) · P. 'Balsam Spire' · P. 'Brenta' · P. 'Ellert' · P. 'Grimmage' · P. 'Hazendans' · P. 'Hees' · P. 'Hoogvorst' · P. 'Koster' · P. 'Lambro' · P. 'Lena' · P. 'Mella' · P. 'Muur' · P. 'Neva' · P. 'Oudenberg' · P. 'Patrizia Invernizzi' · P. 'Pegaso' · P. 'Rumford' · P. 'Serotina Aurea' · P. 'Soligo' · P. 'Tacatricho 32' · P. 'Taro' · P. 'Timavo' · P. 'Vesten' · P. acerifolia · P. aceroides · P. acladesca · P. acuminata (Lanceleaf Cottonwood) · P. adamantea · P. adamentea · P. adenopoda · P. adenopoda f. cuneata · P. adenopoda f. microcarpa · P. adenopoda var. microphylla · P. adenopoda var. nanchaoensis · P. adenopoda var. platyphylla · P. adenopoda var. rotundifolia · P. aegyptiaca · P. aff yunnanensis · P. afghanica · P. afghanica var. cuneata · P. afghanica var. tadishistanica · P. alaschanica · P. alba (Silver Poplar) · P. alba 'Bolleana' · P. alba 'Nivea' · P. alba 'Raket' · P. alba 'Richardii' (Silver Poplar) · P. alba f. brandegeei · P. alba f. pyramidalis · P. alba pyramidalis (Bolleana Poplar) · P. alba Rocket · P. alba subsp. pyramidalis · P. alba var. alba · P. alba var. nutans · P. alba var. pendula · P. alba × grandidentata · P. alba [infrasp.unranked] umbraculifera · P. albocanescens · P. alexanderi · P. alexanderii · P. americana · P. amurensis · P. amygdalaceifolia · P. angulata var. serotina

Bibliography

• Wang Chan and Fang Cheng-fu, eds. 1984. Salicaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 20(2): 1-403.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2007. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 2, 2007.

Identifiers:

• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 994486

Footnotes:

1. Cheng-fu Fang, Shi-dong Zhao & Alexei K. Skvortsov "Salicaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 139. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. "Populus". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 139. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.