POPINJAY. 247 POPLAR. no longer in use in that sense. In the Middle Ages and even later the name popinjay in Eng- land and pupcyai in France was given to a target made to look like a parrot. The effigy was set on a pole and shot at b' archers. The .most skillful marksman often received a silver popinjay as a prize. Consult Jusserand, Jeux et sports d'exercise dans I'ancienne France (Paris, 1901), and Strutt, Sports and Pastimes (London, ISOl 11'.). POPISH PLOT. See Gates, Titus. POPLAB (OF. poplier, peuplier, Fr. peuplier, from peuplc, poplar, from Lat. ^iopulus, poplar), Populus. A genus of trees, forming with wil- lows the natural order Salicaceae. The species number about 20, chielly natives of the temperate and cold regions of the Xorthern Hemisphere, half of them occurring in the United States. They are large trees of rapid growth, with soft wood, and usually have broad, heart-shaped, ovate triangular or lozenge-shaped, deciduous leaves, on rather long stalks. Many of them are beauti- ful. The catkins appear long before the leaves, breaks and shade in the prairie regions of the West they are also popular. The wood is ex- tensively employed in making wood pulp, paper, etc. Besides the species known by the name aspen (q.v. ) or tremulous poplar, the following seem the most worthy of notice: The white pop- lar or abele (Populus alba), a native of Southern Europe, is a tree of 80 feet or upward, with a fine spreading head, and roundish, heart-shaped, lobed, and toothed leaves, which are smooth, shining, and dark green above, downy and sil- very white beneath. It has been introduced into the United States and has spread from New Brunswick to Pennsylvania. The wood is used by cabinet-makers, turners, and toy-makers. It is little liable to swell or shrink, which adapts it to these purposes. The gray poplar, which is a form of Populus alba, is very similar to the white poplar, a large spreading tree with leaves similar to those of the white poplar, but not so dark green above nor so white beneath. It is of less rapid growth than the white poplar and its wood, which is believed to be harder and better, makes good flooring, and is preferable to pine POPLAa LEAVES. 1. large-toothed aspen IPopulus grandidentatar. la. anient of above; 2, swamp poplar (Popu/u.'? beteropbjUa.); 3. balsam poplar iPopuIus balsamifera.) : i. silver-leaf poplar iPopulus all/a); 5. cottonwood (Fopulas deltoides); 6, Lombardy poplar {Popalus nigra, rar. Italica) ; 7, American aspen {Populus tremutoides). and proceed from distinct lateral buds. Few of the poplars are of much value for their timber, which is generally white, soft, and light; but from their rapid growth they are useful as yield- ing firewood where the scarcity of other fuel renders necessary the planting of trees for this purpose. They are often planted as ornamental trees, since they produce an immediate effect of embellishment in a bare situation more readily than almost any other kind of tree. For wind- for the neighborhood of fireplaces, being less apt to take fire. It is also used for coarse doors, carts, barrows, etc., and, not being liable to warp, is esteemed by wood-carvers. The tree generally begins to rot in the heart when forty or fifty years old. Like most of the other poplars, it fills the ground with suckers. The black poplar (Populus ni(fra) , a native of most parts of Europe, is a tree of 50 to 100 feet high, with an ample spreading head, viscous leaf-buds, and deltoid or
