#146 BERLIN POPLAR
Populus × berolinensis ‘Certinensis’
This tree is in the centre of the Island.
County Champion
| Distribution: | Origin of ‘Certinensis’ unknown but believed to be France Populus xberolinensis is an uncommon tree in this country, but is widely planted in the prairie regions of north America and the more continental parts of Europe, where it withstands the harsh winters and hot summers better than most poplars. Widespread in Europe and USA supposed hybrid between Populus laurifolia (female) and the Lombardy poplar populus nigra ‘italica’, which arose in the Botanic Garden of Berlin some time before 1865. The original tree was female. The name berolensis means ‘of Berlin’. There is also a male form, originally distributed as Populus certinensis, which is of unknown origin, but is believed to have originated in France. Populus xberolinensis is reported to occur occasionally in the wild where the two parent species are in contact. |
| Planting Date: | 1919 |
| Growth Habit: | A handsome tree of slender columnar shape, with downy, slightly angled young shoots. |
| Leaf: | It is Leaves broadly ovate and rounded at the base, or somewhat diamond-shaped and wedge-shaped at the base, slender-pointed, finely toothed like those of P. laurifolia, and with a thin translucent border, 4 cm to 10 cm long, upper surface bright green, lower side pale, scarcely whitish, both sides soon glabrous; leaf-stalk downy at first, 1.9 cm to 3.8cm long, not flattened. |
| Flowers: | Buds viscid and pointed. |
| Tree height and girth in 2023: | Height 32 m and girth |
| Uses: | Largely ornamental but good for shelter-belts |
| Anecdotes and Comments:
| Rated in 2023 as County Champion by height and girth by The Tree Register.
Uncommon in the UK |