[AlArchie]

I have a question regarding POPLAR.

Around here (Michigan's UP) aspen is colloquially called POPPLE, and is known more correctly as POPLAR ( Populus grandidentata Michx).

Now my question; There has been some discussion on the characteristics of POPLAR, and I'm wondering if you folks from out of our area are talking about the same wood, or Tulip(yellow) Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides), etc.?

Seems like "Poplar" covers a huge number of different trees.

Characteristics of these different species might vary greatly so it might be important to properly identify what we are asking about.

Al

[mdallensr]

Good question! I've been carving some aspen a friend brought back to Ohio from Colorado. It's a good carving wood and I like the luster it has compared to basswood. This aspen is not the same as the poplar we have in Ohio. I think poplar must be to the lumber business what cod is to the fish business. I look forward to comments from our wood experts. Mike

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

well we have poplar and I have some aspen from colorado I brought with me and I can tell you they are not the same at all......

[Kenny_S]

Same as Hi Ho, Bought some Aspen at the Tulsa carving show and it ain't no where close to thePoplar wood here in SEKansas. The aspen is whitish where the poplar is yellow. Poplar here is a straight tree mainly used each side of a long drive way. Thin fairly smooth bark.

[Just Carving]

Actually, in addition to Tuliptree--sometimes called "yellow poplar"--(not to be confused with tulipwood), there's more to POPLAR than mentioned:

Poplar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about woody plants of the genus Populus.

Populus is a genus of trees which includes the cottonwoods, poplars, and aspens, all of which are sometimes termed poplars (in some areas "popple").

Poplars are deciduous, and turn bright gold to yellow before their leaves fall. The leaves of many poplars, including the cottonwoods and aspens (but not the balsam poplars), have laterally-flattened stems, so that breezes easily cause the leaves to wobble back and forth, giving the whole tree a "twinkling" appearance in a breeze.

Like willows, many poplars have very strong and invasive root systems, so they must not be planted too close to houses or water pipes as they will crack walls and pipes in their search for moisture.

Poplars of the cottonwood section are often wetlands or riparian trees. The aspens are among the most important boreal broadleaf trees.

Fast-growing hybrid poplars are grown on plantations in many areas for pulpwood and used for the manufacture of paper. Poplar is also sold as inexpensive hardwood timber, used for pallets and cheap plywood; more specialised uses include matches and the boxes in which camembert cheese is sold. The wood is generally white, often with a slightly yellowish cast.

Poplars and aspens are important food plants for the larvae of a large number of Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera which feed on Poplars.

Classification

• Populus section Populus - aspens and white poplar. Circumpolar subarctic and cool temperate, and mountains further south (white poplar warm temperate)
  • Populus tremula - Common Aspen, Trembling Aspen or Eurasian Aspen. Europe, northern Asia.
  • Populus tremuloides - Quaking Aspen or Trembling Aspen. North America.
  • Populus grandidentata - Bigtooth Aspen. Eastern North America.
  • Populus adenopoda - Chinese Aspen. Eastern Asia.
  • Populus sieboldii - Japanese Aspen. Eastern Asia.
  • Populus alba - White Poplar. Southern Europe to central Asia.
    • Populus x canescens (P. alba x P. tremula) - Grey Poplar

• Populus section Aegiros - black poplars or cottonwoods. North America, Europe, western Asia; temperate
  • Populus nigra - Black Poplar. Europe.
    • Populus x canadensis (P. nigra x P. deltoides) - Hybrid Black Poplar
  • Populus deltoides - Eastern Cottonwood. Eastern North America.
  • Populus fremontii - Fremont Cottonwood. Western North America.

• Populus section Tacamahaca - balsam poplars. North America, Asia; cool temperate
  • Populus angustifolia - Willow-leaved Poplar or Narrowleaf Cottonwood. Central North America.
  • Populus balsamifera - Ontario Balsam Poplar. Northern North America.
  • Populus trichocarpa - Western Balsam Poplar or Black Cottonwood. Western North America.
  • Populus laurifolia - Laurel-leaf Poplar. Central Asia.
  • Populus simonii - Simon's Poplar. Northeast Asia.
  • Populus maximowiczii - Maximowicz' Poplar. Northeast Asia.

• Populus section Leucoides - necklace poplars or bigleaf poplars. Eastern North America, eastern Asia; warm temperate
  • Populus heterophylla - Swamp Cottonwood. Southeastern North America.
  • Populus lasiocarpa - Chinese Necklace Poplar. Eastern Asia.
  • Populus wilsonii - Wilson's Poplar. Eastern Asia.

• Populus section Turanga - subtropical poplars. Southwest Asia, east Africa; subtropical to tropical
  • Populus euphratica - Euphrates Poplar. Southwest Asia.
  • Populus ilicifolia - Tana River Poplar. East Africa.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

well all that means to me is they are all in a large family group that some body decided they were part of, which means nothing to me when the wood is different....kind of like the hippopotamus is in the horse family...

[Just Carving]

But the point is that just because you call it poplar where you are, doesn't mean that it the same wood that someone else may call poplar.

Until today, I really didn't pay too much attention to the fact that there are a number of totally different woods being referred to under the name "poplar". And they are quite different. So, I posted the listing that I found that made me realize the difference in the wood, i.e. aspen, tulip, etc. to make others aware also.

[brian bailey]

The Tuliptree, Liriodendron tulipifera, aka, Yellow poplar is not a member of the poplar or cottenwood family.

It belongs to the Magnolia family.

[AlArchie]

This is why I brought the subject up. When querries are made regarding the carving characteristics of "poplar", it should be known, which poplar you are asking about.

Even our local stuff that is colloqialized as popple, really is either quaking aspen or big tooth aspen, and they each have different though subtle carving characteristics.

There is also a local Balsam Poplar that I can honestly say I am not familiar with, but it is a larger tree than the normal "popples".

My bet would be that poplars of the eastern seaboard are NOT the aspen we are familiar with in the great lakes states.

Al

[Bob_in_TN]

IMHO, I think we should just call it "Popular" since it seems to be.

When we first moved to NC from OH and my Dad was still living, my parents came to visit our little farm. My Dad had a very good knowledge of trees, but when I asked him to identify some of the trees that were on the farm, he was a little confused. He'd say the bark looks slightly different, the leaves were nearly the same, so on, so on. My point being, even though they were the same tree, they weren't the same tree.