Balsam Poplar
Populus balsamifera
The northernmost American hardwood, balsam poplar fills spring air with the sweet balsam scent of its resinous, sticky buds. A fast, cold-hardy riparian tree of the boreal North. Like other cottonwoods and poplars, the inner bark has flavored soups or bread flour, and the bitter catkins have also been eaten.
- Family
- Salicaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 80–80 ft
- Spacing
- 25–40 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- April, May
- Bloom colors
- yellow, green, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, butterflies, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~367 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- specimen, rain garden, erosion control
- Native states
- AK, CO, IL, IN, KY, MA, ME, MI, MN, MT, ND, NH, NY, OH, PA, RI, SD, VT, WV, WY
Related native plants
More Populus species
- Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)
- Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
- Bigtooth Aspen (Populus grandidentata)
- Fremont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii)
- Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa)
- Narrowleaf Cottonwood (Populus angustifolia)