Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera) Brett Lindsay

Sample was found on the rim of a large group of Balsams, which was about 40 meters from a small stream. This specific tree did not have many branches on it, and appeared to be very young, as its trunk was only 6 cm around, and it was much shorter than the rest of the trees around it. The branches on this particular tree also appeared to being growing at a slight downward angle was well. The bark is a light shade of grey and rather rough on the older growth, while the more recent growth has smooth bark, which is reddish brown. There was only one lateral growth on the entire branch the sample was found on. There is also multiple groupings of 3 or 4 bud scale scars on this twig. The leaf scale scars look like arrows pointing downwards, and are about 0.4 cm wide, and 0.2 cm in length. On this species, the budding is alternate. There were only 4 buds on the sample, 3 on the main stem, and 1 on a lateral growth near the base. The buds are 1.5 cm away from each other, with the closest bud to the terminal being 2.7 cm away. Buds are long and pointed at the tip, but have a bit of a bulge near the base. The base of the bud is the same colour as the recent branch, but the rest of the bud ranges from an almost pea like green colour near the base, to a light brown closer to the tip. Buds that are not terminal are 1.5 cm in length, 0.2 cm wide in the middle, and 0.4 cm wide at the bulge. The Terminal bud at the tip of the sample, is 1.9 cm long, 0.3 cm wide at the middle, and 0.6 cm wide at the bulge. The lateral growth Terminal bud is 1.7 cm long, 0.35 cm wide in the middle, and .5 cm wide at the base. The buds taste sweet at first, then start to taste more like dish soap and they have a rough texture, which allows them to get stuck between your teeth. The buds also leave a slight burning sensation on your gums/tongue.