Populus alba

Columnar White Poplar
Salicaceae
Deciduous, Trees

POPULUS

Fast-growing, tough trees. Grown primarily and especially appreciated in interior regions with hot summers and cold winters. Don’t do as well in mild-winter areas and in coastal climates where temperature fluctuation is minimal. Trees have aggressive surface roots that crowd out other plants, heave pavement, and clog sewer and drainage lines; best suited to rural areas and fringes of large properties.Most poplars will sucker if their roots are cut or disturbed. They are subject to many pests and diseases. Despite their liabilities, some of these trees are beautiful or distinctive enough to be widely old. Many have good fall color. Leaves of most are roughly triangular, sometimes toothed or lobed. Pendulous catkins (denser on male trees) appear in spring before leafout. Female trees later bear masses of cottony seeds that blow about and become a nuisance; for that reason, male (seedless) varieties are the best choice and are usually offered in nurseries.

Populus alba

Native to Europe, Asia. To 40–70 ft. high and wide. Common name refers to woolly white leaf undersides and to light-colored young bark. Leaves are 2–5 in. long, usually with three to five lobes. A –lively– tree with leaves that move even in light breezes, showing flickering white and green highlights. Poor fall color. Tolerates wide range of soils. Suckers profusely–an advantage if it is planted as a windbreak, otherwise a problem.

'Pyramidalis'

Native to Europe and Asia, this seedless poplar variety forms a 15-ft.-wide column and has a white or light gray trunk that resembles birch. Leaves are 2 to 5 in. long, usually with three to five lobes, flicker white and green in even light breezes. Poor fall color.