White Poplar - Populus alba

The leaves are large, to 10cm, and palmately lobed with five lobes. Young leaves are covered with a white hairy down, which gradually wears off the upper surface, but is retained on the underside throughout the season. The upper surface becomes dark green, turning yellow before leaf fall in autumn. Young shoots are covered with the same white down, which is gradually worn away as the season advances.  Bracts are sub-entire to toothed.  The bark is smooth and white or grey, with darker diamond-shaped marks.

The flowers are catkins borne in late winter and early spring. The White Poplar is dioecious, male and female catkins being borne on separate trees. Male plants are rare in the British Isles.  Female trees have pale green catkins.

Grey Poplar (Populus x canescens) has coarsely toothed leaves and is most often male; bracts are laciniate. 

Photographs of leaves (upper and under-side) from the long-shoots in the crown; leaves from suckers or epicormic growth are often atypical and should not be used to identify the plant

Planted as an ornamental in parks and roadside verges, and regenerating from suckers. It does well in damp areas.

All year round flowering early in the year.

Perennial

Widely planted and fairly frequent in Britain.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland, mainly as an ornamental introduction. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 29 of the 617 tetrads.