black poplar

Black Poplar
Black poplars in Poland
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Salicaceae
Genus:	Populus
Section:	Aegiros
Species:	P. nigra
Binomial name
Populus nigra L.

Black poplar (Populus nigra) is a species of poplar in the cottonwood (Aegiros) section of the genus Populus, native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.^[1]

Burrs and normal bark on a black poplar tree (subspecies betulifolia) in Ayrshire, Scotland.

It is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree, reaching 20-30 m (rarely 40 m) tall, with a trunk up to 1.5 m diameter. The leaves are diamond-shaped to triangular, 5-8 cm long and 6-8 cm broad, green on both surfaces.^[2] The species is dioecious (male and female flowers on different plants), with flowers in catkins and pollination by wind.

A fastigiate black poplar cultivar of the Plantierensis Group, in Hungary

There are three subspecies, some botanists distinguishing a fourth^[1][2]:

• Populus nigra subsp. nigra. Central and eastern Europe. Leaves and shoots glabrous (hairless); bark grey-brown, thick and furrowed.
• Populus nigra subsp. betulifolia (Pursh) W.Wettst. North-west Europe (France, Great Britain, Ireland). Leaf veins and shoots finely downy; bark grey-brown, thick and furrowed, often with heavy burrs, trunk usually heavily leaning.
• Populus nigra subsp. caudina (Ten.) Bugała. Mediterranean region, also southwest Asia if var. afghanica not distinguished.
• Populus nigra var. afghanica Aitch. & Hemsl. (syn. P. nigra var. thevestina (Dode) Bean). Southwest Asia; treated as a cultivar of P. nigra by many botanists,^[3] and as a distinct species P. afghanica by others;^[4] bark smooth, nearly white; leaves and shoots as subsp. caudina (see also cultivars, below).

The subspecies betulifolia is one of the rarest trees in Great Britain and Ireland^[5][6], with only about 7,000 trees known, of which only about 600 have been confirmed as female^[7].

Poplar seed tufts

Several cultivars have also been selected, these being propagated readily by cuttings:

• 'Italica'. The true Lombardy poplar, selected in Lombardy, northern Italy, in the 17th century. The growth is fastigiate, with a very narrow crown. Coming from the Mediterranean region, it is adapted to hot, dry summers and grows poorly in humid conditions, being short-lived due to fungal diseases. It is a male clone.^[8]
• Plantierensis group. A group of clones derived by crossing 'Italica' with P. nigra ssp betulifolia at the Plantières Nursery near Metz in France in 1884; they are similar to 'Italica' (and often mistaken for it) but with a slightly broader crown, and better adapted to the cool, humid climate of northwest Europe, where the true Lombardy poplar does not grow well. Both male and female clones are grown. This is the tree most commonly grown in Great Britain and Ireland as "Lombardy poplar".^[8]
• 'Manchester Poplar'. A cultivar of subsp. betulifolia widely planted in northwest England. It is a male clone, and currently seriously threatened by Poplar Scab disease.^[9][10]
• 'Gigantea'. Another fastigiate clone, of unknown origin, with a rather broader, more vigorous crown than 'Italica'. It is a female clone.^[8]
• 'Afghanica' (syn. 'Thevestina'). Most, if not all, specimens of the variety 'Afghanica' are of a single clone, and many botanists therefore treat it as a cultivar rather than a botanical variety. It is fastigiate, similar to 'Italica', but with a striking whitish bark; it also differs from 'Italica' in being a female clone. This is the common fastigiate poplar in southwest Asia and southeast Europe (the Balkans), where it was introduced during the Ottoman Empire period.^[8]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Populus nigra

External links

• A. Vanden Broeck (2003), Black poplar (Populus nigra), EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for genetic conservation and use, EUFORGEN's Populus nigra Network and Bioversity International's Regional Office for Europe, http://www.bioversityinternational.org/Publications/pubfile.asp?ID_PUB=927 
• (French) Conservation of genetic resources of Populus nigra