Poplar or something else

[JoshNZ]

Was given these logs and told they were Poplar, have been milling them into pallets but after seeing some new growth shoots I'm not so sure?



 

 

[Wlmedley]

Not yellow poplar for sure.

[Ianab]

Possibly Yunnan Poplar, or one of the million or so hybrids.  Commonly planted for erosion control around here, basically you plant a stick in the ground, and it shoots like that, and pretty soon you have a tree. 

[JoshNZ]

 

 

 

First time I've milled whatever it is, and first time I've milled Poplar if that is what it is, so I don't really know what I'm looking at. Smells and looks remarkably like red elm I thought.

[SwampDonkey]

The stem looks square shaped, which isn't a trait of poplars, genus Populous. Nor is the beat red color.

Black poplar (Populous nigra) have red flowers, but not red shoots and veins.

[Jeff]

Looks more like a willow to me than a poplar, if it were here.

I sure miss you Danny.:'(

[thecfarm]

Yes, so do I. He would have had it figured out 2 posts ago.  ;D

[JoshNZ]

Poplar Yunnanensis looks pretty spot on after doing some reading actually Ian, as usual. Thanks for replies 

[SwampDonkey]

I don't see any red veins or red square stems in any photos of the tree I look at. The squarish stem doesn't have me convinced it's a poplar.

[Ianab]

Possibly a hybrid or a "clone" of a specific tree. The Red shoots and leaf stems are a common feature of the locally grown ones. It's most common in new shoots, the mature leaves seem more green. 

This is a plant nursery site in NZ, their picture shows the red stem and veins, 

Buy Populus yunnanensis Online - Southern Woods

Some of the commercially available species and hybrids. Check page 18 for Yunnan.

https://www.poplarandwillow.org.nz/documents/poplar-clones.pdf

I'm 100% sure it's some sort of populus species / hybrid. Out in the hill country at the end of the mail run you can't throw a rock without hitting one.  :D

[JoshNZ]

Couple of screen shots below have me believing it is at least a Poplar of some description. I was thinking something else due to not being the big triangular/ovate leaf of yellow Poplar but it seems these are pretty close. Populus szechuanica is the middle one, seems to be compressed and unreadable 



 

 

 

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like a possibility for sure according to those images. But not characteristic of poplar I've ever seen. The new young shoots usually give clues to flower color. And I see P. nigra is a cross in those hybrids and it has red flowers. What appears to be square stemmed, must be striping. Our popples tend to have white or yellow flowers over here and no square stems. If you look at tea roses, the new shoots in the spring give you an indication of it's flower color. Fall leave color in trees is another matter. Red maple has red flowers, but it can have red, orange or yellow fall leaf color.

Trembling




Large tooth





balsam

[JoshNZ]

I'll take a better photo of stem next time I'm at the yard for interests sake