Habit: Tree.
Stem: < 40 m; young bark smooth, pale yellow-green to gray; older bark furrowed, brown to gray; twigs with swellings below leaf scars; winter bud generally resinous, scales > 3.
Leaf: juvenile, adult, late-season leaves may differ in size, shape, hairiness; generally glabrous; blade 3--11 cm, elliptic to deltate, veins pinnate or +- palmate, tip generally elongate.
Inflorescence: catkin pendent, 3--8 cm; bract cut into narrow segments; flowers sessile; nectary a cup- or saucer-like disk.
Flower: perianth modified into non-nectariferous, cup- or saucer-shaped structure.
Staminate Flower: stamens 8--60.
Pistillate Flower: style short, stigmas 2--3(4), large, scalloped to 2-lobed.
Fruit: spheric to conic; valves 2--3(4), 3--12 mm.
Species In Genus: 40 species: northern hemisphere.
Etymology: (Latin: name for plants of this genus)
Jepson eFlora Author: John O. Sawyer, Jr.
Reference: Hamzeh et al. 2006 J Torrey Bot Soc 133:519--527
Unabridged Reference: Hamzeh & Dayanandan 2004 Amer J Bot 91:1398--1408Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Key to Populus
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