Balsam poplar – Populus balsamifera

Pronunciation: pop’-u-lus ball-sum-if-er-uh

Leaf: Alternate, simple, ovate, finely serrated, 3 - 6 inches long, shiny dark green, paler and often blotchy orange below, petiole long with glands at the leaf base.

Flower: Species is dioecious; male and female as hanging, long (several inches), and pale yellow-green catkins; appearing in early spring.

Fruit: Small, 2-valved, dry capsule containing numerous small seeds.

Twig: Moderately stout, round, shiny reddish brown, orange lenticels, buds are reddish brown to brown, long (1 inch), curved, resinous and fragrant. Twig has a bitter aspirin taste.

Bark: Greenish gray with lighter lenticels when young, later becoming darker and furrowed with long, scaly ridges.

Form: Medium sized tree reaching up to 80 feet tall, narrow, pyramidal crown.

Looks like: black cottonwood - eastern cottonwood - narrowleaf cottonwood - bigtooth aspen

Populus balsamifera ssp. balsamifera - balsam poplar Latin name / balsam bearing