Plant ID

BOTANICAL NAME:            Populus nigra   ’Italica’

FAMILY: Salicaceae

COMMON NAME(S):           Lombardy Poplar

HARDINESS/ZONE:           USDA:  3-9

Sunset:  all zones

FOLIAGE:              alternate, simple, triangular leaves, cuneate to truncate base, acuminate tip, bright green both sides, lighter underneath, petiole compressed

FLOWERS:                                                   small, not showy, dioecious, drooping catkins before leaves

FRUIT:                                                           none – this is a male clone

BARK:                                                            grey/brown, ridged and furrowed

SEASONAL VALUE:           wind break, skyline tree, erect branches

(Really Fast!)

HEIGHT:  40-100′                 SPREAD: 10-15′                                          GROWTH:  Fast/Mod/Slow

Sun/Part Shade/Shade

HABIT:                                                           columnar deciduous tree, erect branches

SOIL:                                                                          prefers deep, moist & well-drained; tolerates drought and salt

PRUNING:                                                    corrective

PESTS:                                                          blight

PROPAGATION:                              suckers chunked out or cuttings

COMMENTS:                        many suckers, invasive root system

A male clone

cultivated variety  ‘Thevestina’ white bark and tends to be more broad

Fast growth = brittle wood

Developed in Lombardy district of Italy in 1600’s

BOTANICAL NAME:        Populus tremuloides                      

FAMILY: Salicaceae

COMMON NAME(S):           Quaking Aspen

HARDINESS/ZONE:           USDA:   1

FOLIAGE:                                                      alternate, simple, 1.5-3″ long & wide, deep green above, rounded, flattened petiole, yellow fall color.

FLOWERS:                                       typically dioecious

FRUIT:                                               tufted capsule bearing six to eight seeds in May/June

BARK:                                                            thin, greenish white to cream colored; dark brown to grey in old age

SEASONAL VALUE:

HEIGHT:   50′                                                                                    SPREAD: 30’                                                GROWTH: Fast/Mod/Slow

Sun/Part Shade/Shade

HABIT:                                                           deciduous tree with upright oval crown in youth, more rounded with age

SOIL:                                                                          indifferent to soil conditions – from moist, sandy loam to shallow rocky soil or clay; usually found where water is beneath surface, but doesn’t take flooding

PRUNING:                                                    corrective, broken limbs

PESTS:                                                          many disease and insect problems, so not important ornamentally

PROPAGATION:                  seed, root suckers

COMMENTS:                                    -most widely distributed tree in N. America.

-relatively short lived (50 yrs in East, 150 yrs in West)

-A male clone in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah occupies 17.2

acres, and has more than 47,000 stems.  It is the world’s most massive known organism.

-Clone age can be great; the large Utah clone is estimated to be 1 million years old.

-native at higher elevations as move south; Cascades in Oregon

BOTANICAL NAME:        Populus balsamifera ssp trichocarpa

(previously known as Populus trichocarpa)                            

FAMILY: Salicaceae

COMMON NAME(S):           Black Cottonwood, Hybrid Poplar

HARDINESS/ZONE:           USDA:  4

Sunset:  A2, A3, 1-9, 14-24

FOLIAGE:                                                      alternate, simple, 3-5″ across, 5-10″ long, deep green above, silvery beneath, triangular, round petiole, yellow, fall color.

FLOWERS:                                       dioecious, male trees catkins shed cotton

FRUIT:                                                           female trees only: 3-4 valved dehiscent capsule containing many 1/4 – 1/3″ ‘cottony’ seeds, May/June.

BARK:                                                            dark grey, furrowed

SEASONAL VALUE:           large native tree, fast growing, tolerates wet areas

HEIGHT:   150-180′                                                              SPREAD: 30-40′                                          GROWTH: Fast/Mod/Slow

Sun/Part Shade/Shade

HABIT:                                                           deciduous tree with upright oval crown

SOIL:                                                                          deep, moist, slightly acidic (sandy soils along

rivers) – can grow in very wet soil; also tolerates poor dry soil

PRUNING:                                                    corrective, broken limbs

PESTS:                                                          Cytospera canker, borers, scales

PROPAGATION:                  seed

COMMENTS:                                    -native West of the Cascades, in low wet areas, California to Alaska.  -Root system is massive

-Brittle wood – gets lots of wind/storm damage

-Leaves, buds, twigs have sweet balsam fragrance

-Sticky buds remind you of Fagus, but have green-red tinge w/ few (6) bud scales

-Populus balsamifera is native to northern tree limit in Canada; found in western mountains, including very NE Oregon