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Biology

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This deciduous tree produces catkins in March and April, before the first leaves appear, and is pollinated by the wind (1). The fruits are green capsules that open up to reveal the very small seeds that have wispy hairs attached (3), which aid their dispersal in the wind (6). In order for this tree to regenerate, male and female trees must be fairly close together, and fertilised seeds must fall on bare soil that is still moist in June (8). The timber, which is springy and light, is highly resistant to fire, and has been used for a variety of purposes, including floorboards, clogs and arrows that were found on the Elizabethan galleon, the Mary Rose (8).
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Conservation

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Plans to try to recreate the flood plain forest habitat favoured by black poplar, a habitat that is largely extinct in the UK, have been put forward (8).
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Description

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Black poplar, thought to be Britain's most endangered native timber tree (2), has a wide, rounded crown and dark grey fissured bark, with many swellings ('bosses') on the trunk (1). The deep green leaves are roughly triangular or oval in shape and become yellow in autumn (3). The flowers occur on 3-5cm long catkins (1), and male and female flowers are produced on separate trees; male flowers have red anthers and female flowers have green stigmas (1). Old specimens often develop an obvious lean (8), and older branches are frequently pendulous (9).
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Habitat

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Typically inhabits lowland floodplains (4) in river valleys (3) and needs open areas to allow germination (4). It also occurs in hedges and roadsides, and by ponds. Furthermore, it is sometimes planted in urban areas (9).
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Range

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The native subspecies of black poplar, Populus nigra betnifolia, is locally frequent in parts of lowland England and Wales, rarer in the north of England and Scotland, and rare in Ireland (9)(10), and also occurs in western Europe. At present the British population numbers just 2000 to 3000 trees (2). Elsewhere, black poplar is widely distributed but increasingly scarce throughout much of Europe reaching into central Asia and North Africa. It is generally absent from the far north of Europe (4).
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Status

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Not listed under any major conservation designations.
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Threats

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The preferred habitat of this species has become very rare across Europe as floodplains have been modified and drained for agricultural purposes or succumbed to development pressures (5). Other threats include hybridisation with introduced poplars, which degrades the gene pool, competition with hybrids, and reductions in the groundwater table, which results in trees drying out and dying (4).
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Associations

provided by BioImages, the virtual fieldguide, UK
In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
fruitbody of Agrocybe cylindracea parasitises branch of Populus nigra 'Italica'
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / spot causer
acervulus of Marssonina coelomycetous anamorph of Drepanopeziza populorum causes spots on live leaf of Populus nigra 'Italica'
Remarks: season: late summer
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / gall
Pemphigus bursarius causes gall of leaf (petiole) of Populus nigra 'Italica'
Remarks: season: 5-7

Foodplant / gall
Pemphigus spirothecae causes gall of spiral-shaped gall leaf (petiole) of Populus nigra 'Italica'
Remarks: season: spring

Foodplant / gall
fundatrigenia of Thecabius affinis causes gall of live, down-folded leaf of Populus nigra 'Italica'

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Comments

provided by eFloras
It is the chief source of timber in the dry inner valleys were it is irrigated up to c. 4000 m (R. R. Stewart, l.c.).

Three varieties are recognized. Our material is in conformity with var. italica (Moench) Koehne, Deut. Dendrol. 81. 1893. (Populus italica Moench, Verz. Ausländ Bäume 79. 1785).

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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 203 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
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S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
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Description

provided by eFloras
Trees to 30 m tall; bark dull gray, furrowed when older; crown broadly ovoid. Branchlets yellowish, terete, glabrous. Buds russet, ovoid, very viscid. Petiole ca. as long as or longer than leaf blade, laterally flattened, glabrous; leaf blade rhombic, rhombic-ovoid, or deltoid, 5-10 × 4-8 cm, thinly leathery, abaxially greenish, adaxially green, base cuneate or broadly cuneate, rarely truncate, margin crenate-serrate, ciliate, apex long acuminate. Flower buds outwardly curved at apex. Male catkin 5-6 cm; rachis glabrous; bracts brownish, 3-4 mm, membranous, laciniate. Male flower: stamens 15-30; anthers purplish red. Fruiting catkin 5-10 cm. Female flower: ovary ovoid, glabrous, stipitate; stigmas 2. Capsule ovoid, 5-7 × 3-4 mm, 2-valved, stipitate. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun. 2n = ?19*, 38*, 57.
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of China Vol. 4: 159 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Flora of China @ eFloras.org
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Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
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Description

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Tree, up to 35 m tall,bark dull gray. Buds sticky. Young shoot terete, glabrous. Leaves on long shoots larger, broadly deltoid to deltoid, usually broader than long, truncate or rounded at the base, crenate, acute to acuminate. Leaves on short shoot smaller, rhombic ovate, longer than broad, cuneate at base, crenate-serrate, acuminate. Peiole 2.5-6 cm long, glabrous, lamina 5-10 (-12) x 4-8 (-15) cm. Male catkin 5-7.5 cm long; bracts brownish, 3-4 mm. Stamens (6)-15-30, anthers purple. Female catkin 5-10.5 cm. Ovary glabrous, stigmas 2, sessile, broad, obcordate. Fruiting catkin (5)-10-16 cm long. Capsule shortly stipitate, 2-valved, 5-7 x 3-4 mm.
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 203 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
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S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
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eFloras.org
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Flower/Fruit

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Fl. Per.: April-May.
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of Pakistan Vol. 203 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of Pakistan @ eFloras.org
editor
S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser
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eFloras.org
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Habitat & Distribution

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Along rivers. Native in Xinjiang; cultivated in Fujian, Hebei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan [N Africa, WC Asia, Europe].
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of China Vol. 4: 159 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
source
Flora of China @ eFloras.org
editor
Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven & Hong Deyuan
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eFloras.org
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Populus nigra

provided by wikipedia EN

Populus nigra, the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section Aigeiros of the genus Populus, native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.[2]

Description

Black poplars are medium- to large-sized deciduous trees, reaching 20–30 m, and rarely 40 m tall. Their leaves are diamond-shaped to triangular, 5–8 cm long and 6–8 cm broad, and green on both surfaces.[3] Normally, their trunks achieve up to 1.5 m in diameter, but some unusual individual trees in France have grown old enough to have much larger trunks – more than 3 metres DBH (Diameter at Breast Height).

The species is dioecious (male and female flowers are on different plants), with flowers in catkins and pollination achieved by the wind. The black poplar grows in low-lying areas of moist ground.[4] Like most other pioneer species, the tree is characterized by rapid growth and is able to colonize open areas quickly.[5]

Poplar seed tufts

Subspecies

Three subspecies are established and some botanists distinguish a fourth:[2][3]

  • P. n. subsp. nigra. Central and eastern Europe. Leaves and shoots glabrous (hairless); bark grey-brown, thick and furrowed.
Burrs and normal bark on a black poplar tree (subspecies betulifolia) in Ayrshire, Scotland.
  • P. n. 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.
  • P. n. subsp. caudina (Ten.) Bugała. Mediterranean region, also southwest Asia if var. afghanica not distinguished.
  • P. n. var. afghanica Aitch. & Hemsl. (syn. P. n. var. thevestina (Dode) Bean). Southwest Asia; treated as a cultivar of P. nigra by many botanists,[6] and as a distinct species P. afghanica by others;[7] bark smooth, nearly white; leaves and shoots as subsp. caudina (see also cultivars, below).

The subspecies P. n. betulifolia is one of the rarest trees in Great Britain and Ireland,[8][9] with only about 7,000 trees known, of which only about 600 have been confirmed as female.[10]

Cultivars

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

  • 'Italica' is the true Lombardy poplar, selected in Lombardy, northern Italy, in the 17th century. The growth is fastigiate (having the branches more or less parallel to the main stem), 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.[11] As a widely selected species chosen by golf architects in the 1960s, it soon became apparent that the poplar's very invasive roots destroyed land drainage systems. Decades later, the same courses were removing poplar stands wholesale. Around 40 to 50 years, this short-lived variety starts shedding branches and is very likely to be blown over in high winds, each successive tree lost exposing neighbouring trees, creating a domino effect.
A fastigiate black poplar cultivar of the Plantierensis group, in Hungary
  • Plantierensis group clones are 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.[11]
  • 'Manchester' is a cultivar of P. nigra subsp. betulifolia widely planted in northwest England. It is a male clone, and currently seriously threatened by poplar scab disease.[12][13]
  • 'Gigantea' is another fastigiate clone, of unknown origin, with a rather broader, more vigorous crown than 'Italica'. It is a female clone.[11]
  • 'Afghanica' (syn. 'Thevestina'): most, if not all, specimens 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.[11]

Populus nigra 'Italica' has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[14]

Distribution

Black poplar has a large distribution area throughout Europe and is also found in northern Africa and central and west Asia. The distribution area extends from the Mediterranean in the south to around 64° latitude in the north and from the British Isles in the west to Kazakhstan and China in the east. The distribution area also includes the Caucasus and large parts of the Middle East.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Harvey-Brown, Y.; Barstow, M.; Mark, J. & Rivers, M.C. (2017). "Populus nigra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T63530A68106816. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b Flora Europaea: Populus nigra
  3. ^ a b Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins. ISBN 0-00-220013-9.
  4. ^ "Black Poplar". The Woodland Trust. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Broeck, An Vanden (2003), European black poplar - Populus nigra: Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use (PDF), European Forest Genetic Resources Programme, p. 6
  6. ^ "Populus nigra var. thevestina". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  7. ^ Flora of Pakistan: Populus afghanica
  8. ^ Milne-Redhead, E. (1990). The B.S.B.I. Black Poplar survey, 1973-88. Watsonia 18: 1-5. Available online Archived 2009-01-09 at the Wayback Machine (pdf file).
  9. ^ Arkive: Populus nigra Archived 2006-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Cooper, Fiona (2006). The Black Poplar: Ecology, History and Conservation. Windgather Press ISBN 1-905119-05-4
  11. ^ a b c d Bean, W. J. (1980). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles Vol. 3. John Murray ISBN 0-7195-2427-X
  12. ^ Stace, C. A. (1971). The Manchester Poplar. Watsonia 8: 391-393.
  13. ^ Arboricultural Information Exchange: Manchester Poplar Disease Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Populus nigra 'Italica'". RHS. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
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Populus nigra: Brief Summary

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Populus nigra, the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section Aigeiros of the genus Populus, native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.

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