Habitat: Bottomlands, along streams, around lakes and ponds.
Range: Maine across southern Wisconsin to eastern Nebraska, south to eastern Texas, east to northern Florida.
Distinguishing Features: The large palmately lobed leaves and the brown and gray mottled bark readily distinguish this tree.
WHITE POPLAR
Populus alba L.
Other Names: Silver-leaved Poplar; Abele.
Growth Form: Moderate tree to 50 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 2 feet; crown broadly rounded but often irregular.
Bark: Grayish to whitish, at first smooth, later becoming deeply fissured and very dark gray to nearly black.
Twigs: Greenish-gray, white-hairy at least when young; leaf scars alternate, crescent-shaped, each with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Ovoid, pointed, hairy, up to ⅛ inch long.