Michigan Trees - BestLightNovel.com
You’re reading novel Michigan Trees Part 14 online at BestLightNovel.com. Please use the follow button to get notification about the latest chapter next time when you visit BestLightNovel.com. Use F11 button to read novel in full-screen(PC only). Drop by anytime you want to read free – fast – latest novel. It’s great if you could leave a comment, share your opinion about the new chapters, new novel with others on the internet. We’ll do our best to bring you the finest, latest novel everyday. Enjoy
[Ill.u.s.tration: +White Poplar+
1. Winter twig, 1.
2. Portion of twig, enlarged.
3. Leaf, 2.
4. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
5. Staminate flower, enlarged.
6. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
7. Pistillate flower, enlarged.
8. Fruit, 1/2.]
+SALICACEAE+
+White Poplar+
_Populus alba L._
HABIT.--A large tree 60-80 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 2-4 feet, forming a large, spreading, rounded or irregular crown of large, crooked branches and spa.r.s.e, stout branchlets.
LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 2-4 inches long and almost as broad; broadly ovate to suborbicular; irregularly toothed, sinuate, or sometimes 3-5-lobed; glabrous, dark green above, white-tomentose to glabrous beneath; petioles long, slender, flattened, tomentose.
FLOWERS.--April-May, before the leaves; dioecious; the staminate catkins thick, cylindrical, 2-4 inches long; the pistillate catkins slender, 1-2 inches long; calyx 0; corolla 0; stamens 6-16, with purple anthers; stigmas 2, branched, yellow.
FRUIT.--May-June; ovoid, 2-valved capsules, 1/8-1/4 inch long, borne in drooping catkins 2-4 inches long; seeds light brown, surrounded by long, white hairs.
WINTER-BUDS.--Ovoid, pointed, not viscid, downy, about 1/4 inch long.
BARK.--Twigs greenish, covered with a white down, becoming greenish gray and marked with darker blotches; dark gray and fissured at the base of old trunks.
WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, difficult to split, reddish yellow, with thick, whitish sapwood.
NOTES.--A native of Europe and Asia. Hardy in Michigan. Grows rapidly in good soils; thrives in poor soils and exposed situations. Roots deep, producing numerous suckers for a considerable distance from the tree.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Aspen+
1. Winter twig, 2.
2. Leaf, 1.
3. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
4. Staminate flower, enlarged.
5. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
6. Pistillate flower, enlarged.
7. Fruit, 1/2.]
+SALICACEAE+
+Aspen+
_Populus tremuloides Michx._
HABIT.--A small, slender tree generally 35-45 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 8-15 inches; forming a loose, rounded crown of slender branches.
LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 1-1/2-2-1/2 inches long and broad; broadly ovate to suborbicular; finely serrate; thin and firm; l.u.s.trous, dark green above, dull and pale beneath; petioles slender, laterally compressed. Tremulous with the slightest breeze.
FLOWERS.--April, before the leaves; dioecious; the staminate catkins 1-1/2-3 inches long, the pistillate at first about the same length, gradually elongating; calyx 0; corolla 0; stamens 6-12; stigmas 2, 2-lobed, red.
FRUIT.--May-June; 2-valved, oblong-cylindrical, short-pedicelled capsules 1/4 inch long; seeds light brown, white-hairy.
WINTER-BUDS.--Terminal bud about 1/4 inch long, narrow-conical, acute, red-brown, l.u.s.trous; lateral buds often appressed.
BARK.--Twigs very l.u.s.trous, red-brown, becoming grayish and roughened by the elevated leaf-scars; thin, yellowish or greenish and smooth on the trunk, often roughened with darker, horizontal bands or wart-like excrescences, becoming thick and fissured, almost black at the base of old trunks.
WOOD.--Light, soft, weak, close-grained, not durable, light brown, with thin, whitish sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.--Common throughout the state, but most abundant in the Upper Peninsula.
HABITAT.--Prefers moist, sandy soil and gravelly hillsides.
NOTES.--One of the first trees to cover burned-over lands. Grows rapidly.
Usually short-lived. Propagated from seed or cuttings.
[Ill.u.s.tration: +Largetooth Aspen+
1. Winter twig, 2.
2. Leaf, 1.
3. Staminate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
4. Staminate flower, enlarged.
5. Pistillate flowering branchlet, 1/2.
6. Pistillate flower, enlarged.
7. Fruit, 1/2.]
+SALICACEAE+
+Largetooth Aspen+
_Populus grandidentata Michx._
HABIT.--A medium-sized tree 30-50 feet high, with a slender trunk 12-20 inches in diameter; forming a loose, oval or rounded crown of slender, spreading branches and coa.r.s.e spray.
LEAVES.--Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, two-thirds as broad; orbicular-ovate; coa.r.s.ely and irregularly sinuate-toothed; thin and firm; dark green above, paler beneath, glabrous both sides; petioles long, slender, laterally compressed.
FLOWERS.--April, before the leaves; dioecious; the staminate in short-stalked catkins 1-3 inches long; the pistillate in loose-flowered, long-stalked catkins at first about the same length, but gradually elongating; calyx 0; corolla 0; stamens 6-12, with red anthers; stigmas 2, 2-lobed, red.
