Poplar does not give fluff. Interesting facts about poplar. Healing properties of Poplar

Poplars - very fast growing, gaining height and leaf mass from the Willow family. Trees grow very quickly for the first 15-20 years of life, but quickly grow old and die. When poplar blossoms, some people rejoice at the white poplar blizzard in the middle of a hot summer, and some suffer from allergies. All types of poplars purify the city air. There are several dozen species of poplars on earth, many of them are hybrids grown through the efforts of dendrologists.

balsamic

The balsamic poplar is native to Canada and North America. The usual height is 17-20 m, old fifty-year-old trees often reach a height of 30 m.

The diameter of the sprawling poplar crown is 10-12 m, it is difficult for two people to grab a thick trunk, since its diameter can be up to two meters. At the base of the trunk, the bark of the plant is dark, uneven, in bursting clumsy furrows; higher along the trunk, an elastic, smooth skin of a white-gray shade begins.

The branches are covered with leaves 5-14 cm long and 4-7 cm wide. The shape of the leaves is rounded at the petiole and wedge-shaped, tapering to a sharp tip, along the edge of the leaves are covered with a finely serrated relief.

The leaf is smooth, with a leathery cool surface and a long dense petiole (2-2.5 cm), the upper part of the leaf is shiny, dark green, the color of the lower plate is gray-green, very light, the skeletal base of the leaf structure is clearly visible from below.

The buds thrown out in the spring are large, elongated, up to 2 cm high. The buds and newly unfolded young leaves are sticky from a sticky resin coating covering them with a pleasant aroma.

A tree is considered an adult only after 5 or 6 years. The type of this poplar is used to create living, windshields for fields and.

It is almost never used for landscaping cities and villages, although it looks very nice in group plantings, consisting of a small group of trees.

bay leaf

Habitat Western and Eastern Siberia up to the Angara River. Grows in Altai, in the foothills of the Dzungarian Alatau. Distributed in river valleys on pebbles, on mountain slopes, on gravel.

Plant height from 10 to 20 m, trunk thickness up to 1 m in diameter. This type of poplar is not tall, the skeletal branches are sprawling and not numerous, few new, young shoots grow on them during the year. Therefore, the crown of the plant is not dense, slightly sparse.

Did you know? In total, 95 varieties of poplar trees grow on planet Earth.

The skin of the trunk is gray with cracks. The tree is not very demanding on lighting and lives on the poor. The roots of the bay leaf are very deep; it can withstand the long, frost-rich Siberian winters without any problems.

The color of the bark of young shoots is light yellow, they are slightly pubescent. shoots unusual look, and with clearly visible rebrines, growing up, the shoots become rounded in diameter.
This ribbing of the shoots is due to longitudinal cork-like growths, which is hallmark this type of poplar. The kidneys are oval, sharp, brown-green, elongated, covered with a sticky and pleasantly smelling substance.

The foliage is large, the length of the leaf is 6-14 cm, the width is from 2 to 5 cm. The shape of the leaf is oval-elongated, narrowed towards the end, the leaf has a finely indented border, smooth to the touch, cool, leathery, with a two-tone color (green-whitish). The blossoming foliage is sticky, light green.

Due to the frequent freezing of the branches, an abundant growth of young shoots occurs, from this the crown of the tree seems extremely lush and very decorative.

Flowering in this variety occurs in May-June, fringed earrings have a whitish color, loosely fluffed, covered with yellow pollen.

The male form of the earrings is cylindrical, from 3 to 8 cm long, they have 20-25 stamens with stamen filaments and anthers, the female form of flowering (earrings) has flowers rarely located on them, a pistil with a two-lobed stigma. The blades on the pestle are located downwards.
After ripening (May-June), in place of inflorescences-earrings, fruits are formed in the form of quadrangular swollen balls. The fully ripened seeds scatter from bursting testicles. Poplars from a number of laurel species are used in plantings along highways.

Important! The poplar family is divided into male and female trees. But only females during flowering spread fluff around.

Pyramidal

The pyramidal poplar is a photophilous plant. Very tall, the description of the species indicates a maximum height of 35-40 m and a maximum lifespan of up to 300 years. Grows in Italy, the Caucasus, Ukraine, in Central Asia, in Russia.

He likes neutral and slightly acidic, moderately saturated with moisture, but well lit by the sun. Grows fast in the first 10 years. The cap of the plant is narrow, clearly elongated upwards, the branches are powerful, strong, growing at an angle of 90 ° relative to the trunk.
The diameter of the trunk on the cut is up to one meter, has weakly expressed annual rings, dark gray bark, indented with small cracks. blooms small flowers collected in long inflorescences in the form of male and female earrings feminine, women's earrings are 5-7 cm longer than men's.

Flowering occurs immediately after bud break. The color of women's and men's earrings is also different, men's - burgundy, women's - light milky.

The young plant has a smooth and elastic, light gray or light olive bark. The shape of the pyramidal poplar leaf is clearly triangular, with a wide, even base, sharply tapering towards the top of the leaf.

Like other types of representatives of Willows, the pyramidal has shiny, dark green leaves with a white color along the lower plate, finely serrated along the edge. The leaves are attached to the branches with a short, strong petiole, slightly flattened along.

With the onset of autumn, the foliage turns yellow, in mid-October the leaf cover crumbles to the foot of the trees.
The roots of this plant are located deep down and in breadth, part of the roots are usually located on the surface of the earth near the base of the tree. It grows well in urban environments, there is no negative reaction to vehicle emissions into the air.

Black (speck)

Poplar black or Osokor - has become widespread in Russia and Ukraine, grows in parks and squares, in deciduous forests. It is used in urban landscaping due to its exceptional ability to release oxygen.

One plant can release as much oxygen as 10 and three large, old ones. For one summer season black poplar purifies the city air from 20 kg of dust accumulations, its buds also have healing properties and are used in folk medicine.
During his life, the giant reaches a height of 35 meters, his life span is from 60 to 300 years. Old trees are sprawling, thickset, with a powerful trunk, swollen with skin growths, which eventually hardened and became shapeless-looking wood. The bark is roughly shaped, almost black.

The buds are tightly pressed to the branches, rounded, large, in light scales, covered with gluten. The leaves are hard and large, triangular or diamond-shaped, attached to the branches with flattened cuttings.

Flowering - long earrings, burgundy and yellow, male and female varieties. Male and female blooms differ in color and length of inflorescences, female inflorescences are usually twice as long and lush.
Flowering occurs in late May or early June. At the end of seed maturation, dispersal (reproduction) begins. Poplar family deserved recognition and love in different corners the globe its diversity, rapid growth and unpretentiousness.

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Under the tall, gloomy old Poplars, important documents were signed and oaths were pronounced.

In the era of revolutions, the poplar was a symbol of the struggle of the people for freedom and rights.

At the same time, in Chinese traditions, the tree meant the unity of opposites - yin and yang. Thanks to their colors, Poplar leaves represented black and white, the beginning and the end.

In folk tales, Poplar personified a gentle and delicate nature. Poplar leaves, like Aspen, trembled in the wind.

Since ancient times, it was believed that Poplars are able to absorb negative energy and protect the house from evil spirits. Like guards, tall trees stood on the streets in cities and villages. Many old-timers believe that trees cannot endlessly absorb evil thoughts and, in the end, give a lot to the world.

poplar names

There are several theories about the origin of the word "poplar".

According to one version, the tree could be called "Popol", which is derived from the Latin name for the tree "populus". At some point, the word changed for unknown reasons.

The word "populus" from Latin actually means "people".

Where poplar grows

There are about 90 species of this tree. One of the rarest, listed in the Red Book is the Black Poplar.

Poplar belongs to the willow family. In nature, it can be found along the banks of rivers and on hillsides, however, it is most often found along roads and in parks in cities and villages.

Wild species are extremely sensitive to soil moisture. That is why Poplars are not found near swamps and swamps. Cultivated plants, on the contrary, take root well in almost any soil and even in heavily polluted areas.

Various types of Poplars grow in Siberia, the North-Western part of Russia, on Far East, in America, Mexico, China and even East Africa.

Poplar grows very fast and within 40 years reaches an incredible size. The maximum age of such Poplar reaches 150 years. There are cases when the age of the Black Poplar was about 400 years.

What does Poplar look like?

Poplar is a slender tall tree with a strong thick trunk and a silver crown. The height of the Black Poplar sometimes reaches 40 meters, while the maximum recorded girth of the trunk is more than 4 meters.

Poplar's crown is very dense and broad. Over time, many branches dry up. As if negative energy dries up the old tree from the inside.

The bark of the common poplar has a grayish tint and cracks over time.

The tree is dioecious. Female flowers turn in the summer into the same poplar fluff - White snow against the backdrop of a hot summer.

When poplar blossoms

The flowering of Poplar begins in April or May, depending on the region. Due to the high content of pollen in the flowers, the tree is considered an excellent honey plant.

In June and July, ripe fruits with seeds are separated from the branches and spread through forests, cities and parks.

Healing properties of Poplar

The bark, seeds and buds of the plant are used as medicines.

Poplar bark contains tannins, glycosides and alkaloids. Thanks to this, a decoction of the bark has a sedative effect and calms the nervous system.

At the same time, tannins have an astringent effect and are effective for indigestion.

Decoctions from the kidneys effectively fight against inflammatory processes and increase the body's resistance.

An infusion of poplar leaves is used as a wound healing agent.

There are preparations based on Poplar that can cope with a depressive state and normalize sleep.

Poplar buds, powdered and mixed with other ingredients, are used for hair loss. This ointment is able to stimulate the hair follicles.

Contraindications

Tannins in preparations from Poplar bark can aggravate the condition of the problematic gastrointestinal tract.

It must be remembered that the use of any properties of Poplar for medicinal purposes, like any other plant, is possible only after consultation with specialists.

Poplar Application

Poplar wood is used in industry as a raw material for making paper, matches, plywood and even charcoal.

Despite the fact that poplar wood is not a favorite material for carvers and joiners, it is very valuable. The tree is able to quickly reach its maturity, therefore it is an important and fast source of renewable natural resources.

Poplar is capable of producing a huge amount of oxygen and surpasses even Pine and El.

Many types of plants are unpretentious in the soil and are able to withstand increased air pollution by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. That is why this plant has been planted in parks and along roads for many decades in a row.

Unfortunately, Poplar is also known for being a strong irritant for allergy sufferers. This fact was clearly not taken into account in Soviet times during mass landings of Poplars in residential areas.

The oldest Poplar grows in Ukraine. Its age is approximately 200 years, while the girth of the trunk is just over 9 meters.

During the hungry war years, the bast layer under the tree bark was dried and added to flour for baking bread.

As you know, the living layer of a tree is a valuable source of microelements, therefore it was often an assistant in the fight against hunger in the most difficult times in the history of the country.

Poplar bark is very light, so it was often used as a float in fishing nets.

Poplars love to change their gender. Female catkins may form on the male plant. Scientists explain this phenomenon by unfavorable ecology.

In 2010, winter showed its sharp temper with frosts and February snowfalls, the beginning of spring - a sharp lack of water, and summer began earlier than usual by at least 2 weeks. abnormal warm april gave rise to the rapid development of greenery - already now, in the first decade of June, ovaries hang on apple and pear trees, the size of which corresponds to the fruits of mid-late June, at the same time this year lilac, bird cherry, mountain ash bloomed, and the leaves on birch trees unfolded in Moscow already in last decade of April. And, of course, the poplar made itself known, and how it gave!

According to long-term observations of the development of poplars, it has been established that the flight of down begins in early June and lasts about 2 weeks - but this occurs in normal, not abnormal conditions. climatic conditions. Take a look - outside the window a downy blizzard sweeps out the sun glare, city greenery, cracked streets ... and this disgrace began in mid-May !! The lawns are covered with a white blanket, fluff rises from under your feet with every step, rushes in the air, does not allow you to breathe ...

True, according to experts, such a picture was already observed in the 70s. But that doesn't make it any easier for us. Let's see why many of us are hostile to poplar fluff and, in general, to poplar itself.

Why did they start planting poplars in cities?

Poplars have been used in urban landscaping since 1946. After the Great Patriotic War it was necessary to restore the appearance of Moscow as quickly as possible and replace the lost trees. It should be noted that earlier in landscaping to create parks, gardens, shady areas, hedges and protective strips, coniferous and deciduous trees were used - spruce, pine, larch, birch, bird cherry, apple tree, maple, ash, elm, oak, as well as shrubs - lilac, hawthorn, mock orange, acacia, vesicle and some other species, and poplar was not involved for these purposes.

The lost mature trees had to be urgently replaced with something. Dendrologists suggested - it is characterized by rapid growth, dense crown, ease of reproduction, resistance to urban conditions, decorative appearance, occupies a smaller area than other trees, due to the compactness of the crown, is relatively cheap. The proposal was considered, the landscaping program was approved by Stalin, and poplars came to Moscow and began their victorious march across the country. And, by the way, they did their job perfectly. But…

Mistake or thoughtlessness?

As a result, the inhabitants of the whole country are doomed to eternal "downy" flour. Why did this happen? And - the eternal question - Who is to blame?

Did the scientists make the wrong choice? The answer is no, they weren't wrong. So what's the point then?

Poplar is a dioecious plant, that is, it has male and female trees. Males bloom, giving pollen, pollinating females, and females already give seeds, equipped with downy bats - hated down.

Reasonable question - Was it really impossible to plant only male specimens?

Well, that's exactly what was done! Only male plants were planted - and this was a fatal combination of circumstances. You can't deceive nature, and this is perfectly shown by the example of poplars. It is known that plants, some animals and insects in certain situations, adapting to the conditions of life, are able to change sex. After all, the trees had to multiply, so they found a way out. To everyone's dismay and dismay, botanists, dendrologists, and other industry experts have observed the appearance of female catkins on male poplars, on branches next to male flowers.

By the way, I should clarify. Poplar fluff is not flowers, but poplar seeds. The poplar blossoms even before the leaves appear, its male catkins appear immediately after the buds burst.

So does down cause allergies or not?

Allergists unanimously refute all attacks on poplar, arguing that poplar fluff does not cause allergies, but it can provoke. The fluff summer period coincides with the flowering period of cereal grasses, birch, linden and other plants, the pollen of which causes very unpleasant and even life-threatening allergic reactions in sensitive people. And fluff is a carrier of pollen, various pathogens, man-made pollutants.

The fluff itself is also unpleasant, being a purely mechanical irritant - in the heat it sticks to the body, tickles, climbs into the nose, into the ears, under the glasses. Agree, it's not pleasant.

In addition, even without fluff, life in the city is full of troubles.

People suffering from pollinosis - a reaction to pollen, can be advised not to leave the house without a gauze bandage, do not keep the windows and balcony doors open for a long time, use allergy medications prescribed by a doctor, and in no case self-medicate with herbal infusions and decoctions - this can be done instead relief sharply worsen their condition.

But the harmfulness of fluff is not only in this. It penetrates the premises, accumulating in the corners in lush snowdrifts and heaps, adding to the hassle of cleaning. The fluffs themselves are dry, volatile, weightless, very flammable. Fluff is a flammable agent, one unextinguished cigarette butt not thrown into the urn can lead to a fire. Yes, and children often have fun throwing lighted matches into the fluff.

How to correct the situation?

The only way, in my opinion, to radically change the situation is to replace Poplar balsam and other non-fruitful poplar species, for example, Berlin poplar, within a few years. True, public utilities do not want to hear about this, referring to the excessive cost of the event and the lack of funds. Choosing the right culture to replace is, of course, not an easy task. How not to get burned again. But it is necessary to do this, otherwise the torment will continue further.

It is possible and necessary to carry out competent pruning of poplars, forming them “from a young age” into a tree with several skeletal branches, and not into one bare trunk with thin branches, as is now done with mature, 50-60-year-old trees.

Not every tree has the ability to secrete poplar fluff: male plants are harmless and do not cause trouble. Therefore, the people involved in planting these plants are doing everything possible to prevent females from appearing on the streets of the city.

But everything is not so simple: poplars have one unpleasant feature. They are very fond of changing their gender, when female catkins suddenly form on a male plant for unknown reasons. It mainly happens in major cities with unfavorable environmental conditions. For this reason, the culling of female trees does not particularly solve the problem of the presence of poplar fluff.

Poplar trees belong to the genus deciduous trees from the willow family. They are distributed in the temperate latitudes of Eurasia and North America, while capturing part of the subtropical regions of China and Mexico, are found in East Africa.

In nature, they grow along rivers and on well-moistened slopes, some species can be found in the sands. At the same time, they need soil rich in micro- and macroelements and do not tolerate swampy places. At the same time, cultivated plants perfectly take root on any land.

The poplar genus has more than a hundred species, which are divided into six main sections:

Mexican - plants of this group have the smallest height. They are a cross between aspen and poplar, common in Mexico and the USA;
Deltoid - triangular-shaped leaves are located on long petioles. These trees are characterized by a pyramidal crown;
Leucoid - is considered the most ancient group of poplars. Leaves, catkins and buds of poplar of this species are characterized by large sizes;
Popolus or folk - representatives of this group are distinguished by the fact that their buds and leaves do not secrete a sticky substance, and they are also characterized by the presence of long petioles, due to which, at the slightest breath of wind, the foliage begins to move. The leaves have a palmate-lobed shape and are characterized by snow-white pubescence on the underside. by the most famous representative this group is silver poplar;
Balsamic - leaves and buds of trees are characterized by the presence of a huge amount of fragrant resin;
Turangi - from a distance are very similar to aspen, but have a looser crown.

Description

The height of poplar trees ranges from 30 to 60 meters, the diameter of the trunk is about a meter. Poplars grow very quickly and already at the age of forty they acquire the final height (if they grow up, then not much), for which at one time this plant was preferred when landscaping the streets.

The plant does not live long, mainly up to eighty years (the old poplar is highly susceptible to fungal diseases), although some species live up to one hundred and fifty.

Poplar roots are thick, strong, in many species they are located superficially, and therefore they go quite far away from the tree. At the same time, some species, for example, silver poplar, produce many offspring on their roots, from which new trees grow.

The wood of the tree is soft and very light, the trunk is straight, the crown can have a wide variety of shapes: tent-shaped, ovoid, ovoid-pyramidal or pyramidal poplar is often found. The gray bark of the tree becomes covered with small cracks with age, while the poplar branch, on the contrary, has a smooth bark.

Both the leaves and flowers of the plant develop from poplar buds. Poplar leaves are petiolate, arranged along the branch in a spiral, in some species the poplar leaves are pubescent, in others they are bare. Interestingly, the shape of a poplar leaf largely depends on the shoot on which it grew and even its location on it. Therefore, the same poplar leaves can have the most diverse - narrow, medium, wide.

reproduction

Poplars are dioecious trees: to prevent self-pollination, male and female flowers are on different plants. The sex of a tree is fairly easy to determine before the plant has flowered. To do this, remove the kidney from which the flower will develop, break it open and examine it. upper part under a magnifying glass If the tree is male, anthers resembling grains can be seen on the cut, while the females do not have grains: instead they have an ovary with a stigma rudiment.

The plant begins to bloom in the tenth year of life, like many trees, in the spring or before, or simultaneously with the appearance of leaves. Sticky poplar buds at a certain moment swell very quickly and instantly bloom. When the flowers appear, the buds stay on the tree for some time, after which they fall off.

The flowers of the plant are collected in inflorescences, shaped like earrings (they may have different shape: cylindrical, straight or hanging). For earrings growing on male trees, red color is characteristic, while female inflorescences yellow color with green pestles.

Plants are pollinated in the spring with the help of wind, which picks up pollen from male trees and transfers to female plants. As a result, female flowers turn into green color boxes that turn black as they ripen.

The box contains black seeds (more than a thousand pieces in one gram). At the base, they have a bunch of a huge number of fine hairs, known as "poplar fluff".

One and a half to two months after pollination, the boxes open, as a result of which the poplar fluff scatters in all directions, and the trees are covered with a white fur coat. Despite the huge number of seeds, most of does not take root: they lose their germination very quickly, so if poplar fluff does not have time to deliver them to suitable soil, they disappear. Since the seeds are very light, in order to gain a foothold, they need to catch on to something (a pebble, a twig, a straw), otherwise the poplar fluff will fly away with the seed.

Detrimental effect on human health

Doctors say that patients began to complain about poplar fluff only in the seventies of the last century, when the air in cities began to become more and more polluted every year. By itself, poplar fluff can only cause irritation of the mucous membrane, but fluffs are ideal carriers of pollen and dust, which causes allergies in many people (for example, ragweed bloom can cause such severe allergies that an allergic person may end up in intensive care).

Another negative point is that poplar fluff has the ability to instantly flare up from any spark, causing numerous fires in the forest (often people also contribute when they have fun setting fire to snow-white fluffs).

Not only fluff is harmful: often the trees themselves carry the danger. For example, old poplar has not only soft and easily rotting wood, but also weak roots, which makes it extremely unstable. This means that during a thunderstorm with strong gusts of wind, the old poplar can fall at any moment. IN best case poplar will fall on the road or buildings, at worst - on vehicles or people, which can lead to human death.

The benefits of poplar

Doctors say that at one time these trees were planted on the streets of cities for a reason: they absorb about 70% of street dust, dirt and smoke (one old poplar cleans the air of forty kilograms of soot and dust), refresh and enrich the air with phytoncides, killing pathogenic microbes. Interestingly, poplars emit several times more oxygen than conifers.

Due to the unpretentiousness of these trees, as well as their rapid growth, after the war, it was possible to create green spaces for various purposes quite soon after the war. It turned out that the old poplar growing near the house, whose height is fifty or sixty meters, serves as an excellent lightning rod.

It turned out to be especially profitable to plant it within the city, since it not only grows rapidly, but is also decorative and has a high ability to reproduce. Previously, landscapers tried to separate males, now many tree species have been discovered (for example, species such as laurel and pyramidal poplar) that do not have poplar fluff, and therefore are the best option for the city.

At the same time, despite numerous proposals, the old poplar is not cut down, but they try to cut it in such a way that for about five years it would be possible to be spared the pleasure of contemplating the poplar fluff.

Now we can already talk about this with 100% certainty: a new variety of poplar has appeared, which does not produce fluff at all, never, under any circumstances. This was achieved by Valentina Obodovskaya, a biologist from Kazakhstan. In her work, she used the method of selective selection.

Most great achievement Valentina Obodovskaya - that her breeding poplars retain all the useful properties. The fact is that, if it were not for fluff, poplar would be the most the best tree for landscaping cities: it grows rapidly, it cleans the air from exhaust gases better than other trees, and retains metal-containing dust. During the summer, each poplar catches about 35 kilograms of dust. Each poplar is a small oxygen factory. For comparison, seven firs, four pines and three lindens emit as much oxygen as one poplar.

Seven firs, four pines and three lindens emit as much oxygen as one poplar.

But due to the fact that poplar gives off fluff, they are not particularly favored in cities: they cut down existing ones and are in no hurry to plant new ones. Or take less drastic measures. For example, as we have already said, poplar contraception is successfully used in China.

Now the first alley of Valentin poplar has already been planted in Astana. Trees are also being planted in other cities of Kazakhstan, about five thousand poplars have been planted now. The biologist has no doubts about success. While working on her poplar, she developed a scheme that allows you to plant trees not only in spring or autumn, but also in summer.