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- Woody plants
- Broad-leaved woody plants
- Populus alba
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New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
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Facts
White poplar is distinguished from other poplars by its three-lobed leaves that are bright silver-white on their undersides. It grows rapidly in a variety of challenging conditions, and has naturalized in many habitats to become one of the most widespread trees in North America. Because it suckers readily, white poplar has been planted as a windbreak. It is also tolerant of urban pollution, making it a useful city tree, but its shallow roots can buckle sidewalks. Since it spreads easily from cultivation, it is considered an invasive species in many states, including Connecticut.
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, meadows and fields
Characteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Growth form
- the plant is a tree
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade edges
-
- the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
- Leaf blade length
- 50–85 mm
- Leaf blade width
- 40–80 mm
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
- Bark texture
-
- the bark of an adult plant is ridged or plated
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- red
- white
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
Show all characteristics
-
Buds or leaf scars
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
- Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
- NA
- Collateral buds
- there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches
- Leaf scar arrangement
- there is one leaf scar per node on the stem or twig
- Superposed buds
- there are no superposed buds on the branch
- Terminal bud
- the branch has a terminal bud on it
- Winter bud distribution
- the winter buds are distributed fairly evenly along the twig
- Winter bud scale hairs
- the winter bud scales are hairy
- Winter bud scales
- the winter bud is perulate (partially or completely covered with one or more scales)
- Winter bud shape
- the winter buds are ovoid (egg-shaped)
- Winter bud stalks
- the winter buds have no stalks
-
Flowers
- Carpels fused
- the carpels are fused to one another
- Enlarged sterile flowers
- there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
- Flower appearance
- the flowers appear before the leaves
- Flower petal color
- NA
- Flower symmetry
- there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)
- Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
- NA
- Hypanthium present
- the flower does not have a hypanthium
- Inflorescence type
- the inflorescence is an ament (catkin; slender, usually pendulous inflorescence with crowded unisexual flowers)
- Number of pistils
- 1
- Ovary position
- the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
- Petal and sepal arrangement
- the flower lacks sepals and petals
- Petal appearance
- NA
- Petal fusion
- NA
- Sepal appearance
- NA
- Sepal cilia (Ilex)
- NA
- Sepal tip glands
- NA
- Sepals fused only to sepals
- NA
- Stamen number
-
- 10
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- Stamen position relative to petals
- NA
- Stamens fused
- the stamens are not fused to one another
-
Fruits or seeds
- Berry color
- NA
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
- Fruit type (specific)
- the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)
- Nut with spines (fa*gaceae)
- NA
- Wings on fruit
- there are no wings on the fruit
-
Glands or sap
- Sap color
- the sap is clear and watery
- Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
- NA
-
Growth form
- Growth form
- the plant is a tree
-
Leaves
- Hairs on underside of leaf blade
- the underside of the leaf has hairs on it
- Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
- the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs
- Leaf blade base shape
-
- The base of the leaf blade is cordate (heart-shaped, with rounded lobes)
- the base of the leaf blade is truncate (ends abruptly in a more or less straight line as though cut off)
- Leaf blade base symmetry
- the leaf blade base is symmetrical
- Leaf blade bloom
- there is a noticeable powdery or waxy bloom on the underside of the leaf
- Leaf blade edges
-
- the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf blade edges (Acer)
- NA
- Leaf blade flatness
- the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges
- Leaf blade hairs
-
- NA
- the leaf blade has tangled or woolly-looking hairs, without glands
- Leaf blade length
- 50–85 mm
- Leaf blade scales
- there are no scales on the leaf blades
- Leaf blade shape
- the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)
- Leaf blade texture
-
- the leaf blade is coriaceous (has a firm, leathery texture)
- the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)
- Leaf blade translucent dots
- there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade
- Leaf blade vein pattern
- the main veins of the leaf blade are pinnate (the secondary veins branch off at intervals from the main central vein) and non-arcuate (not arched towards the leaf tip)
- Leaf blade veins
- the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base toward the tip
- Leaf blade width
- 40–80 mm
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- Leaf form
- the plant is broad-leaved (with broadly flattened leaf blades)
- Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
- NA
- Leaf midrib glands
- the midrib of the leaf blade lacks glands on the upper surface
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Leaf stalk attachment to leaf
- the petiole attaches at the basal margin of the leaf blade
- Leaf stalk nectaries
- there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk
- Leaf stalk shape
- the leaf stalk is not flattened
- Leaf teeth
- the leaf blade margin is serrate (with forward-pointing) or dentate (with outward-pointing) with medium-sized to coarse teeth
- Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
- NA
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Specific leaf type
- the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets
- Stipules
- there are no stipules on the plant, or they fall off as the leaf expands
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Specific habitat
-
- edges of forests
- man-made or disturbed habitats
- meadows or fields
-
Scent
- Plant odor
- the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Aerial roots
- the plant has no aerial roots
- Bark texture
-
- the bark of an adult plant is ridged or plated
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Branch brittleness (willows only)
- NA
- Branch cross-section
- the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
- First-year cane (Rubus)
- NA
- Lenticels on twigs
- there are clearly lenticels on the twigs
- Pith shape
- the outline of the pith in a twig is roughly round
- Short shoots
- there are peg- or knob-like shoots present
- Twig bloom
- there is no bloom on the twig
- Twig hairs
- the twigs have hairs, but the hairs do not have glands
- Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
- NA
- Twig scales
- there are no scales on the twig surface
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- red
- white
- Wings on branch
- the branch does not have wings on it
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
Wetland status
Not classified
New England distribution and conservation status
Distribution
- Connecticut
- present, invasive
- Maine
- present, invasive, prohibited
- Massachusetts
- present
- New Hampshire
- present
- Rhode Island
- present
- Vermont
- present
Conservation status
Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.
- Massachusetts
- not applicable (S-rank: SNA)
Native to North America?
No
Synonyms
- Populus alba var. bolleana Lauche
Family
Salicaceae
Genus
Populus
Help
From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae
1. Populus alba L.E
white poplar. Populus alba L.var. bolleana Lauche • CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT. Fields, roadsides, forest borders, waste areas, railroads, near dwellings.
1×4. Populus alba × Populus grandidentata → Populus ×rouleauiana Boivin is a rare poplar hybrid in New England known from CT, MA. It has leaves borne on variable petioles, with most only somewhat compressed. The leaf blades, especially those toward the apex of the shoot, are abaxially moderately to densely tomentose, the tomentum sometimes in patches leaving much of the proximal leaf blade glabrous (rarely with some leaves with the entire abaxial surface glabrous). The leaf blade margins most resemble P.grandidentata, though the teeth tend tend to be fewer and some blades show obscure lobes (the hybrid has 4–12 teeth per margin and P.grandidentata has 5–14 teeth per margin).
1×7. Populus alba × Populus tremula → Populus ×canescens (Ait.) J.E.Smith is an uncommon hybrid poplar that has escaped from cultivation in CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT. It resembles P.alba in some aspects but has leaf blades that are merely dentate (i.e., the blades are not lobed or only scarcely so), the proximal ones sparsely to moderately tomentose abaxially with gray, brown-white, or sordid-white hairs (rather than bright white), and petioles that vary from compressed to subterete. The floral scales are prominently lacerate with 7–9 lobes, and the staminate flowers have 8–15 stamens (rather than floral scales merely dentate with many apical teeth and staminate flowers with 5–10 stamens in P.alba).
1×8. Populus alba × Populus tremuloides → Populus ×heimburgeri Boivin is a rare poplar hybrid that is known from MA. It has first leaves that are tomentose on the abaxial surface of the blades with white-gray hairs and blade margins with (4–) 6–8 large, blunt teeth (only rare blades show any sign of the lobing of P.alba). The new leaves are similar in regard to pubescence but have mostly 11–17 small teeth (i.e., approaching the morphology of P.tremuloides). It is further characterized by petioles that vary from compressed to subterete.
