Populus × canescens, the grey poplar, is a hybrid between Populus alba (white poplar) and P. tremula (common aspen). It is intermediate between its parents, with a thin grey downy coating on the leaves, which are much less deeply lobed than the leaves of P. alba. It is a very vigorous tree with marked hybrid vigour, reaching 40 metres (130 feet) tall and with a trunk diameter over 1.5 m (5 ft) – much larger than either of its parents. Most trees in cultivation are male, but female trees occur naturally and some of these are also propagated.[2]
| Populus × canescens | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Salicaceae |
| Genus: | Populus |
| Section: | Populus sect. Populus |
| Species: | P. × canescens
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| Binomial name | |
| Populus × canescens (Aiton) Sm.[1]
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Taxonomy
editIn 1789 William Aiton described the grey poplar as a variety of Populus alba, P. alba var. canescens.[3] In 1804, James Edward Smith raised it to a full species, P. canescens.[1] He described differences between the leaves of the two taxa: P. alba has lobed leaves with snow-white ("niveus") undersides, whereas P. canescens has wavy-edged leaves with hoary ("incanus") undersides.[4] Later authors sometimes noted the possibility that the grey poplar was a hybrid.[5] It is now considered to be a hybrid between P. alba and P. tremula,[6] so the scientific name is written with the hybrid symbol.
References
edit- ^ a b c "Populus × canescens", The Plant List, retrieved 2014-11-28
- ^ Rushforth, K. (1999), Trees of Britain and Europe, Collins, ISBN 0-00-220013-9
- ^ "Populus alba var. canescens", The Plant List, retrieved 2014-11-28
- ^ Smith, J.E. (1804), "Populus", Flora Britannica, Volume III, London: J. White, retrieved 2014-11-29, pp. 1079–1080
- ^ Phillips, Roger (1978), Trees in Britain Europe and North America, Pan Macmillan, p. 167, ISBN 0-330-25480-4
- ^ Stace, Clive (2010), New Flora of the British Isles (3rd ed.), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-70772-5