Grey Poplar
Scientific name: Populus x canescens (Aiton) Sm. (= Populus alba x Populus tremula)
Diagnostic features
Tree to 46m, similar to Populus alba but more vigorous.
Leaves coarsely and bluntly sinuate-dentate, densely tomentose on lowerside at first, often much less so or subglabrous later.
Female rather rare; partially fertile.
Chromosome number: (2n=38, 57).
Habitat
Possibly native; much planted but rarely naturalized, probably never arising anew in British Isles but often alone or in groups among native taxa, especially in damp woods and by streams, perhaps reaching Britain naturally as a hybrid.
Distribution
Scattered throughout British Isles but absent from much of Scotland; Europe.
This hybrid is keyed out on Page 1675 in the Text Key. |
