Pics of possible Balsam Poplar

[donbickley]

Hi Everyone,
 Well, I finely have those pics up. They are located at http://www.uplive.com/balsamifera.htm. Give me your thoughts?
Don
    The Upper Peninsula's Official Search Engine

[L. Wakefield]

   Hey, I think I found 1! On the edge of Great Sidney Bog, on the way up to Skowhegan, I had pulled over to check out some popple snags. 3 big dead trunks with bark like you show on your pics. Nothing living of that type til I found a tiny sapling barely a foot tall at my feet. Bug-chewed, but some leaves intact and with the shiny upper side, and rust colored stains on the back. When I went to dig it, it was growing out of an INTENSELY big root. So I chopped off a generous portion of the root as well as the regular root ball. It's socked into my garden right now where I won't lose sight of it. I will move it, needless to say, if it survives.
  Accordin to the Maine Book of Trees, it might be a subspecies that doesn't reproduce by seeds but by spreading rootstock.
  I looked for more. Couldn't find any there- but I swear I could smell them.
  Nice road- but that was literally the only place i had access to undeveloped heath. They had built right in all along the rest of the road.  LW

[donbickley]

Wow, AWESOME! I hope it will grow ok for ya. Miracle Grow and a lot of tlc will work wonders of course. This fall I'll get some saplings and move them to 'my' area. Can't wait! Let me know if you'll want some as well this fall. I'll get the ball a rolling (no pun intended) with laws and transporting prep.
Don
       The Upper Peninsula's Official Search Engine

[L. Wakefield]

   Now I have made a positive ID of some bazillion of these trees in Vermont, New Hampshire, and northern Maine. Several road trips this week- and have dug and moved 5 of them to my place- for all that it is the wrong time of year. I can very well see why Don was hesitating on Prunus vs. Populus. It is very reminiscent of a peach or a strange apple- but it's definitely the balsamifera. The brown stains on the backs of the leaves are often so marked as to give the entire tree a bronze cast. I can see why it has formerly been considered a very nice ornamental for northern locations. It does seem to prefer altitude or more northern locations here. I will see if these survive in my warmer area- and I will go after more when they are dormant.
  Lovely to have success finally.   LW