Populus nigra
| Black Poplar | |
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| Black poplars in Poland | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Salicaceae |
| Genus: | Populus |
| Section: | Aigeiros |
| Species: | P. nigra |
| Binomial name | |
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Populus nigra L. |
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| Distribution map | |
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.
The black poplar is a medium to large-sized deciduous tree, reaching 20–30 m, and rarely 40 m tall. Normally their trunks achieve up to 1.5 m in diameter – however, some unusual individual trees in France have grown old enough to have much larger trunks – more than 3 meters DBH. Their leaves are diamond-shaped to triangular, 5–8 cm long and 6–8 cm broad, green on both surfaces.
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. Like most other pioneer species, the tree is characterized by rapid growth and are able to quickly colonize open areas.
There are three established subspecies and some botanists distinguishing a fourth:
The subspecies betulifolia is one of the rarest trees in Great Britain and Ireland, with only about 7,000 trees known, of which only about 600 have been confirmed as female.
Several cultivars have also been selected, these being propagated readily by cuttings:
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 Poplars stands wholesale. At around 40 to 50 years this short lived variety starts shedding branches and are very likely to be blown over in high winds, each successive tree lost exposing neighbouring trees creating a domino effect.
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 approximately 64º latitude in the north and from the British Isles in the west to Kazakstan and China in the east. The distribution area also includes the Caucasus and large parts of the Middle East.
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Wikipedia