The chief American poplars are the Tachamahaca or Balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera), chiefly found in Northern America; a large tree, 80 feet high, with fragrant gummy buds and lanceolate-oval leaves; the Balm of Gilead poplar (P. candicans), resembling the foregoing in its buds, but with very large, broad, heart-shaped foliage. From these a gum is sometimes collected, and used medicinally for the cure of scurvy. The American aspen (P. tremuloides), about 30 feet high, a common tree with very tremulous leaves and greenish bark; the large American aspen (P. grandidentata), 40 feet high, with large leaves bordered with coarse teeth or denticulations; the Cotton tree (P. argentea), 60 or 70 feet, with leaves downy in a young state; the American Black poplar of smaller size, having the young shoots covered with short hair; the Cottonwood (P. Canadensis), found chiefly in the western part of this state, a fine tree, with smooth, unequally-toothed, wide cordate leaves; and the Carolina poplar (P. angulata), an enormous tree of the swamps of the south and west, considerably resembling the Cotton tree, but without the resinous buds of that species.
