Grey Poplar - Keele University
Norway Maple

Keele University Arboretum

Grey Poplar   Populus canescens

Origin: Grey Poplar is a hybrid between the White Poplar P. alba and the Aspen P. tremula. As such it has features of both parents to varying degrees.

Grey Poplar leaves
Grey Poplar bark
Grey Poplar in spring
Grey Poplar in autumn

Leaves: from the White Poplar it gets the felty covering of the underside of the leaves. This gradually wears off to leave a thin greyish coating. From the Aspen it gets its more rounded leaf shape. The leaves of White Poplar tend to be more deeply lobed, almost maple-shaped at times. In the autumn the leaves turn yellow.

The bark is quite stunning. It is covered in diamond-shaped indentations (lenticels), as if hammered with a chisel, when young becoming deeply furrowed when older.

At Keele : two large trees behind the Sport Centre - compartment 56F, square J4, tags 2204, 2196 and one by lake 1 (shown opposite)

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