SWAMP COTTONWOOD.
P. heterophylla, Linn.
The swamp cottonwood of the South has leaves of varia ble but distinctly poplar form, always large, broadly ovate, with slim round petioles. The white down of the un folding leaves often persists into midsummer. On ac count of the fluttering leaves the trees were called, by the early Acadians, "Langues de femmes" a mild calumny trace able to the herbalist, Gerarde, who compares them to tongues, which seldom cease wagging."
The wood of poplars, soft, weak, and of slight value for fuel or lumber, has within two decades come into a position of great economic importance. Wood pulp is made of it, and out of wood pulp a thousand articles, from toys to wheels of locomotives, are made. A state forester de clared: "If I could replace the maples in the state forest by poplars to-day, I would do it gladly. It would be worth thousands of dollars to the state."