In the early spring, when the sun has melted the gummy resin which covers the buds of the balm of Gilead, one can tell the tree blind-folded by its sweet, pungent perfume, and even in winter the buds have this same strong, medicinal, aromatic odor which serves as a means of recognizing the tree.
Pallas says that when grouse and other birds of that family feed on the buds of the balm of Gilead during the winter, their flesh becomes imbued with the balsam flavor, which he seems to think adds to the relish of the meat as food.
This tree grows very fast on almost any kind of soil, and its roots extend to a great distance. Emerson found a balm of Gilead the roots of which had passed under a house forty feet wide and thrown up suckers on the other side.
The wood, like that of other poplars, is soft and light and is used in making paper pulp, pails, and boxes.
The specific name refers to the balsam on the buds. The balm of Gilead is found in the Western and Eastern States.
Cottonwood; Necklace or Carolina Poplar Populus deltoides
A large tree, 80 to 100 feet high. The bark is dark gray and more broken in fissures than that of other poplars. The buds are glossy and resinous, but have less balsam than those of the other species. Alternate leaf-scars. Conspicuous five-angled pith in the small stems.
The cottonwood is larger than the other poplars, and in the Mississippi Valley it sometimes grows to be one hundred and fifty feet high. The climate of London must be particularly congenial to this tree, for Emerson alludes to trees there which grew thirty and forty feet in only seven years. In England it is called the black Italian poplar. The name necklace poplar comes from the resemblance of the fruit of the catkins to the beads of a necklace.
The wood is light and soft, and is used for pulp, for making packing cases, and for fuel.
The specific name, deltoides, comes from the Greek, and alludes to the deltoid or triangular shape of the leaves. The cottonwood grows wild in Western New England, south to Florida and westward.