Balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera): what the agencies record

This page reports what US federal publications say about one tree. It does not identify trees from descriptions or photos and does not say what should be done with any tree. The family overview, tree species in the agency records, explains the sources and holds the comparison table.

At a glance

Item	What the source records
Scientific name	Populus balsamifera L. in USDA PLANTS, willow family
Other names	Balm-of-gilead, barn, tacamahac, cottonwood and heartleaf balsam poplar (Silvics)
Native status, USDA PLANTS	Native in Alaska, Canada and the lower 48 states
Size, Silvics	Large trees throughout much of the range may be 90 to 180 cm (35 to 71 in) in diameter and 23 to 30 m (75 to 100 ft) in height; in the northern part of the range it is frequently the largest tree in 80- to 100-year-old stands
Longevity, Silvics	A hardy, fast-growing tree that is generally short lived, with some trees reaching 200 years
Green weight of the wood, NRS-38	40 lb per cubic foot, without bark

Native range

The Silvics of North America handbook (Agriculture Handbook 654, volume 2, 1990) calls balsam poplar the northernmost American hardwood, growing transcontinentally on upland and flood plain sites with the best development on flood plains. The range spans about 110 degrees of longitude and 26 degrees of latitude, extending across North America along the northern limit of trees from Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec west to Hudson Bay and northwest to Mackenzie Bay, from northwest Alaska south to southwest and part of south-central Alaska, and through north and east British Columbia, east to southeast Saskatchewan, eastern North Dakota, northeast South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, northwest Indiana, Michigan, southern Ontario, New York and Maine. The handbook says it is local in the western mountains, south to northeast Oregon, Idaho, northern Utah, central Colorado, northwest Nebraska and the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, and scattered in northern Iowa, northeast Ohio, Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, eastern Maryland and northwestern Connecticut.

Flowers and growth

Silvics says balsam poplar generally reaches flowering age between 8 and 10 years and produces large seed crops almost every year. It is dioecious, with flowering before leaf flush in April and May throughout most of the range but not until June or July at northern limits and upper elevations. Male catkins are 5 to 9 cm (2 to 3.5 in) and mature female catkins 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) long. The handbook says young trees have a clearly defined main bole and conical crown, and that in the 80- to 100-year-old age class trees tend to have a more rounded crown. Beyond that age it says conifers, which eventually replace balsam poplar, usually attain greater heights. It gives the specific gravity of the wood as ranging from 0.326 to 0.346 and differing among sites.

Roots

On flood plains the handbook says the balsam poplar root system is multilayered, owing to the deposition of new soil by periodic flooding: early root development is downward, then development progresses upward on the buried stem. In one instance major new root development occurred at least six times as the original root system and 2 m (6.6 ft) of the main bole were buried by silt over a 30- to 40-year span. Root development on a buried seedling stem occurs within several weeks of burial, and the handbook says expansion of the root system and sucker production can play an important role in clone development and colonization of a site.

Wood

The Wood Handbook (FPL-GTR-282, 2021) groups balsam poplar with the cottonwoods and says it grows from Alaska across Canada and in the northern Great Lakes States. What it says about cottonwood wood is set out once on the eastern cottonwood page and the black cottonwood page. Silvics says the wood can be used for pulp, veneer, core stock, boxes, crates and brackets, though aspen and cottonwood are preferred, and that in northern areas it is used for structural lumber and milled house logs when other species are not available. It says waferboard with excellent mechanical qualities can be made from balsam poplar, and that hybrids are used as windbreak plantings in the northern plains and tested in short-rotation plantations. Table 5-3b has a separate balsam poplar row, shown below.

Wood Handbook Table 5-3b	Specific gravity	Modulus of rupture (lbf per square inch)	Side hardness (lbf)
Green	0.31	3,900	Not published
At 12% moisture content	0.34	6,800	Not published

The Wood Handbook states that specific gravity is based on oven-dry weight and the volume when green or at 12% moisture content. The green weight of the wood without bark is in the NRS-38 table, the same figure used in the log weight calculator.

Diseases, insects and damage the handbook names

Silvics (1990) names these agents by the names it used.

Borers. The poplar and willow wood borer (Cryptorhynchus lapathi), the bronze poplar borer (Agrilus liargus) and the poplar borer (Saperda calcarata), named among the most damaging insects, which girdle or weaken trees larger than 2.5 cm (1 in) by tunneling in the main stem and limbs.
Foliage feeders. The forest tent caterpillar, satin moth, gray willow leaf beetle and aspen leaf beetle, though balsam poplar is not their principal host; the handbook suggests the highly resinous buds and leaves may make it less palatable.
Decay fungi. In mature trees the most common decay-causing fungus is Phellinus tremulae, with Pholiota destruens, Corticium expallens and Bjerkandera adusta also important. The handbook says the occurrence of decay varies with site conditions and among clones.
Cankers and leaf diseases. A canker caused by Neofabraea populi observed in Ontario; Rhytidiella moroformis, which roughens the normally smooth bark; Melampsora leaf rust; Linospora leaf blight; Venturia leaf and twig blight; and Septoria musiva and S. populicola, which cause a leaf spot and canker on seedlings. The guide on cankers covers the topic in general.
Fire, frost and animals. Mature trees can withstand mild and perhaps moderately intense fires, and the species produces root suckers after fire. Frost damage occurs to trees of all ages in exposed stands. Moose, deer and elk browse the stems, hares may eat the internodes of twigs but not the buds because of the resin, and beaver frequently cut balsam poplar along watercourses.
River erosion. The handbook notes that rivers that create sites for balsam poplar also destroy sites with established stands, and channels may shift 30 to 60 m (100 to 200 ft) over a span of a few years.

For urban use, Silvics lists brittle branches on older trees, large amounts of residue from spent catkins on female trees, and relatively rapid root suckering that can colonize lawns and sidewalks.

The guide on reporting a pest in the United States and the Canada reporting page give the offices that take sightings of regulated pests. Who may apply pesticides is in pesticide licences by country.