Saving our native black poplars

Britain's native trees

The British Isles are home to only 30 native tree species, which play an important part in our economic and cultural history. Most common and widespread are species such as oak, ash and beech, but alongside these are more elusive or difficult to identify species, including the black poplar (Populus nigra ssp. betulifolia).

One of the rarest of our native trees, the black poplar is an inhabitant of floodplains and wet ditches, and was once a common sight in the countryside.

The decline of black poplar

Drainage for agriculture has contributed to the gradual decline of black poplar, but more significant has been the loss of this tree's reputation as a versatile provider of timber. It was once a popular choice for construction, domestic and agricultural uses, and was used to make matches, floorboards, carts and many other everyday objects.

However, modern timber requirements favour faster- and straighter-growing species, or hybrids selected for these qualities, leaving the black poplar population at around 7,000 trees in the UK.

A key for biodiversity

The loss of black poplar from our landscapes would impoverish our landscape and arboricultural history, depleting the UK's tree biodiversity and the creatures that rely on it for their survival.

Fortunately, new poplar trees can be propagated from long cuttings known as truncheons. This technique utilises the ability of most members of the willow family to sucker from roots, or shoot from cut limbs, to produce cloned offspring of the parents. This is a common strategy of trees growing in waterlogged areas where reproduction through seed may be less viable.

Another distinctive family feature relates to sex: botanists describe poplars as dioecious meaning that individual trees (and their offspring) produce either male or female flowers – but not both. There are thought to be only about 700 females in the UK (10 per cent of the total black poplar population), perhaps a consequence of the tradition of propagating replacements from male trees.