Populus euphratica

Populus euphratica Oliv., Voy. Emp. Othoman 3: 449 1807. (Syn: Balsamiflua ariana (Dode) Kimura; Balsamiflua bonnetiana (Dode) Kimura; Balsamiflua diversifolia (Schrenk) Kimura; Balsamiflua euphratica (Olivier) Kimura; Balsamiflua illicitana (Dode) Kimura; Balsamiflua litwinowiana (Dode) Kimura; Balsamiflua mauritanica (Dode) Kimura; Populus ariana Dode; Populus bonnetiana Dode; Populus diversifolia Schrenk; Populus euphratica var. bonnetiana (Dode) Maire; Populus euphratica var. mauritanica (Dode) Maire; Populus illicitana Dode; Populus litwinowiana Dode; Populus mauritanica Dode; Populus transcaucasica Jarm. ex Grossh.; Turanga ariana Kimura; Turanga bonnetiana (Dode) Kimura; Turanga diversifolia Kimura; Turanga euphratica (Olivier) Kimura; Turanga illicitana (Dode) Kimura; Turanga litwinowiana (Dode) Kimura; Turanga mauritanica (Dode) Kimura) as per Catalogue of life;
Georgia [Caucasus], Northern Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan (Badakshan,
Badghys, Farah, Helmand, Herat, Kabul, Nimroz), Pakistan (Karachi, Sind, Quetta,
Waziristan, Lahore, Baltistan), Jammu & Kashmir (Ladakh), Morocco, Algeria,
China (Gansu, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Xinjiang), Kazakhstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Turkey (S-Anatolia, SE-Anatolia,
SSW-Anatolia), Egypt (Desert Oases), Iran (EC-Iran, E-Iran, NE-Iran: Mts.,
Iranian Aserbaijan, S-Iran, W-Iran, W-Iran, N-Iran), Iraq (NE-Iraq, NW-Iraq,
SE-Iraq: Mesopotamia, W-Iraq: Desert), Israel (Rift Valley, Negev Desert),
Jordania (S-Jordania), Syria (Jazira, Jbel Druze) as per Catalogue of life;
 

Populus euphratica, commonly known as the Euphrates Poplar or Desert Poplar, is a species of poplar tree in the willow family. 

The Euphrates Poplar is a medium-sized deciduous tree that may grow to a height of about 15 m and a girth of 2.5 m where conditions are favourable. The stem is typically bent and forked; old stems have thick, rough, olive-green bark. While the sapwood is white, the heartwood is red, darkening to almost black at the centre. The roots spread widely but not deeply. The leaves are highly variable in shape. The flowers are borne as catkins, those of the male are 25–50 mm long, those of the female 50–70 mm. The fruits are ovoid-lanceolate capsules, 7–12 mm long, containing tiny seeds enveloped in silky hairs.[1]
The species has a very wide range, occurring naturally from North Africa, across the Middle East and Central Asia to western China.
It may be found in dry temperate broadleaf and mixed forests and subtropical dry broadleaf forests at altitudes of up to 4000 m above sea level. It is a prominent component of tugay floodplain ecosystems along river valleys in arid and semi-arid regions, mixed with willow, tamarisk and mulberry in dense thickets. It grows well on land that is seasonally flooded and is tolerant of saline and brackish water. Much used as a source of firewood, its forests have largely disappeared or become fragmented over much of its natural range.[1]
The species requires a lot of light for normal development. It is used in agroforestry to provide leaves as fodder for livestock, timber and, potentially, fibre for making paper. It is also used in afforestation programs on saline soils in desert regions, and to create windbreaks and check erosion. The bark is reported to have antihelminthic properties.[1]
(From Wikipedia on 21.2.14) 
 

 

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Populus euphratica Oliv.
This poplar species shows leaf polymorphism. In a single branch you can find several types of leaves from broad-ovate, elliptic, obovate, rhomboid, reniform, sub orbicular to lanceolate.

Thanks … I have seen a lot of these trees before 1975, when taking photographs was a luxury.

 
 
 

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