Inflorescence.—April to May. Sterile catkins when expanded 3-4 inches long, at length pendent; scales cut into irregular divisions, reddish; stamens numerous, anthers oblong, dark red: fertile catkins spreading, few and loosely flowered, gradually elongating; scales reddish-brown; ovary short-stalked; styles 2-3, united at the base; stigmas 2-3, conspicuous.
Fruit.—Fruiting catkins spreading or drooping, 4-5 inches long: capsules usually erect, ovoid, acute, shorter than or equaling the slender pedicels: seeds numerous, white-hairy.
Horticultural Value.—Not procurable in New England nurseries or from collectors; its usefulness in landscape gardening not definitely known.
Plate XVI.—Populus heterophylla.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Branch with sterile catkin. |
| 3. Sterile flower. |
| 4. Scale of sterile flower. |
| 5. Branch with fertile catkin. |
| 6. Fertile flower. |
| 7. Fruiting branch with mature leaves. |