Myths about poplars

Summer has begun and, as always, poplar fluff is flying around Kyiv. There are people suffering from asthma, there are those who simply don’t like fluff, those who have allergies - and conversations begin that bad poplars need to be completely exterminated. Zelenstroevites are happy to cut down poplars so that they will be allocated funds for this. But I have always been against this and I want to speak out in defense of poplars.

Firstly, not all poplars produce fluff, but only some. Pyramid poplars do not produce fluff; only female black poplars produce fluff. Men don't do this. Therefore, if we are talking about reducing the amount of poplar fluff in Kyiv, then it is necessary first of all to plant male poplars. Secondly, by constantly crowning poplars, the Zelenstroevites, unfortunately, provoke the appearance of even more fluff. The fact is that after cutting the branches male poplar next year the tree will turn into a female tree. Any botanist and biologist knows this. Therefore, under no circumstances should poplars be crowned. But the main thing is not even the fluff. It will fly for a week or a week and a half, and it can be survived.

Poplar, in the conditions of gas-polluted Kyiv (and it is known that the capital of Ukraine was recently recognized as the most gas-polluted in Europe), is extremely necessary for the city - after all, it is the most stable tree species, most resistant to gas pollution. Neither chestnuts nor lindens, which are planted along the roads, can tolerate gas pollution and die the following year. But the poplar does not die; moreover, it perfectly cleans the air of dust, releases a lot of phytoncides and practically does not lose leaves during the hot period of the year. Therefore, it is necessary to plant poplar in Kyiv, and this is our salvation. For this reason, you can forget about down for a week or a week and a half, because poplar saves and protects the air all spring, summer and half of autumn. Therefore, I want to urge the people of Kiev and Zelenstroevites not to destroy these natural protective trees.

By the way, in Lately A new myth has appeared about poplars: supposedly they push too much before they die. They say that the trees are already old, and therefore they need to be replaced. This myth is periodically started by people who are far from botany. The poplars feel absolutely normal and are not going to die. These are the same trees as cherry, cherry, apple, pear, etc. If these plants began to bear too much fruit before they died, can you imagine what kind of harvest we would reap from them? But there is no such thing! Secondly, the tree does not die quickly. Those who took at least a course in dendrology at university know that the process of tree death lasts for decades, and for some species, for example, oak, for centuries. A tree cannot wither and die in the blink of an eye.

It’s time to replace most of Irkutsk’s poplars, but the city refuses to buy new types of them

The Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry offers Irkutsk new breeds of poplars: pyramidal and laurel-leaved. These trees, according to scientists, are frost-resistant, do not produce fluff, and smell good. In addition, they are more beautiful than those poplars that now grow on city streets, plus they retain green foliage until mid-September. However, the city's chief dendrologist does not see the need to replace old poplars with new ones.

We began to study laurel poplar with the light hand of the famous herbalist Viktor Telyatyev, says Kim Zakharovich Hamburg, leading researcher, doctor biological sciences SIFIBR. - He discovered it in the Sayan Mountains during one of the expeditions. He brought seven seedlings with him and planted them at the dacha. This poplar is easily propagated by cuttings.

Laurel foliage poplar is tall tree with a tent-shaped crown, bushy, with leaves similar to bay leaves. One of the advantages is that fluff almost never flies from him: his earrings fall off before they have time to open. According to Kim Hamburg, poplar produces a lot of resin, which smells good and also has disinfecting properties.

Unfortunately, our city poplars are infected with rust fungus. Because of this, the leaves turn yellow and fall off early. The leaves of the laurel poplar remain green for a month longer, says Kim Zakharovich.

In addition, SIFIBR offers the city pyramidal poplar. A tree with a narrow, high crown (there are many of these in southern Russia), similar to cypress. It does not even produce earrings, from which fluff is formed.

This poplar stays green until the end of September! - says the biologist. - Trees are not affected by any rust. Of course, the virus can mutate and infect these trees, but so far it has not affected new types of poplar, and this is a definite plus.

Currently, 300-400 poplars are growing in SIFIBR nurseries. This fall they can already be planted - anyone can buy trees at the institute.

Kim Zakharovich said that Gorzelenkhoz does not grow such poplars. And when SIFIBR offers the city administration seedlings for planting, they receive a refusal - Gorzelenkhoz claims that these trees are not suitable for Irkutsk.

“I don’t know why this is happening,” says Kim Zakharovich. - There are a lot of old poplars in Irkutsk that need to be replaced. This fall we will have several hundred excellent seedlings ready to plant.

What are the benefits of poplars?

Poplars began to be planted in Irkutsk almost immediately from the founding of the city. After the war, the share of these trees among all urban plants reached 80 percent. They actively absorb carbon dioxide and release a lot of much-needed oxygen for city dwellers. Some believe that poplar absorbs negative energy. Today poplars are almost never planted in Irkutsk. Poplar fluff is a cause of allergies and fires. And old trees become fragile and can break under their own weight

We don't need poplars

To find out what other experts think about laurel and pyramidal poplars, we turned to the chief dendrologist of Irkutsk, Nadezhda Kuzmenkova.

These trees are very tall, they are good for sanitary protection zones: in enterprises, along railways, to create forest belts,” says Nadezhda Aleksandrovna. - But there are enough poplars in the city. Why change poplar to poplar? In addition, Irkutsk residents have probably noticed that we are improving the health of the city’s poplars and pruning them.

This year, according to the chief dendrologist, new plantings will appear in the city: on Labor Square near the circus, in Kirov Square and other places.

Linden trees, blue spruces, prickly and common spruces, pears, apples, and maples will appear there,” says Nadezhda. - There are a lot of trees! Why stop at poplars?

Price issue

This fall, SIFIBR is ready to sell about 400 laurel poplar seedlings. The price of one seedling is approximately 200 rubles.

Most North American poplars were brought to us from Europe in the 18th-19th centuries. Others are from India and China. Widest distribution in the area central Russia received poplar-sedge. In total, 110 species of poplars grow on Earth, as well as a large number of their varieties and hybrids. We have 30 species, 12 of them are cultivated.

Active implementation of the program for landscaping new neighborhoods under construction began immediately after the war. The task was simple: choose an unpretentious and fast-growing tree, and plant it in areas allocated for landscaping near houses, along the edges of roads, in park areas. Poplar turned out to be such a “universal” tree - one of the champions in terms of growth rate. Each year, each tree becomes closer to the sky by an average of 2-4 meters.

Soviet scientists emphasized: poplars in cities are a temporary “green injection”; in 15 years it is necessary to begin replacing “fast greeners” with other trees that cause less trouble. However, even after 50 years, they did not begin to implement the replacement program, but they successfully introduced more and more doses of “green injections” into the “body” of megacities, provincial cities and towns throughout Russia.

Error or natural selection?

The “victorious march” of poplars turned into almost a tragedy: people began to grumble louder and louder about the fluff that covered the streets with a “snowy” carpet, “sneaked” into houses, and made them sneeze.

Questions started pouring in. Couldn't they have chosen a different tree? How could such an unfortunate mistake be made?

In fact, Soviet scientists were not mistaken in their choice. The fact is that poplar has “male” and “female” trees. The former bloom and pollinate the latter, and it is on the “female” poplars that seeds with fluff that irritates everyone appear. For landscaping, “male” poplars were chosen, which “do not push.” However, over time, botanists, to their displeasure, began to notice the appearance of “female” earrings on “male” trees. By “changing sex,” poplars tried to resist the massive seasonal “haircut.”

However, there is another version of the appearance of “female” poplars on city streets. IN Soviet years Gardening programs were often implemented at cleanup days, in which ordinary citizens took part. It was simply unrealistic to invite a professional dendrologist to every community cleanup, who would identify and approve “male” poplars suitable for planting.

Harm or benefit?

Poplar fluff is not an allergen. It only spreads pollen from plants, the flowering of which turns into trouble for people prone to allergies. However, poplar fluff, being a mechanical irritant, causes sneezing and coughing, and causes discomfort in many Russians.

In 2008, Eco-portal published research by American scientists who stated that poplars can eliminate the consequences negative influence on the environment, including absorbing and breaking down the carcinogenic industrial solvent trichlorethylene, as well as other pollutants environment: gasoline, chloroform, vinyl chloride and carbon tetrachloride.

Russian professor, head of the department of clinical immunology and allergology of NMAPE named after. P.L. Shupika Larisa Kuznetsova is convinced that poplar fluff, like an “air brush,” absorbs carcinogens and heavy metal salts that enter the air from cars and industrial emissions.

Experts note that one poplar produces as much oxygen as 10 birches, 7 spruce trees, 4 pine trees or 3 linden trees. Over the course of a season, a tree “takes” 20-30 kg of soot and dust from the air. Poplar is extremely frost-resistant and is ready to adapt to the worst ecology, so finding a worthy replacement for it, according to environmentalists, will not be easy.

The head of the forestry program of Greenpeace Russia, Alexey Yaroshenko, is confident that if all poplars are removed in Moscow, the air quality will decrease so much that it will cover all the benefits of the lack of fluff. The ecologist is confident that large polluted cities do not provide an alternative: other trees, given the current air condition, will grow very poorly, if at all.

Fighting methods

Today, one of the most effective measures to combat poplar fluff is seasonal pruning. True, not in all Russian cities public utilities cope with the task at the proper level. While utility workers can still get to the central streets, they often don’t get to the courtyards and outskirts. So the janitors and volunteers are trying to collect and sweep away the poplar fluff to no avail.

Often children who like to set fire to “summer snow” come to their aid, which, understandably, does not cause delight among the authorities - citizens begin to be persistently reminded of the fire hazard of poplar fluff.

Pruning, by the way, has its downsides. Firstly, after being “cut”, the tree looks ugly for some time, which does not contribute to improving the urban appearance. Secondly, ideal pruning should be completed by applying a special healing composition to the wounds of the tree, which does not allow the tree to collapse. It is clear that landscapers have neither the energy nor the time to carry out such painstaking work. Trees rotted from the inside fall, destroying cars and injuring people. However, old trees also create emergency situations - the average lifespan of a poplar is 100 years.

In Moscow and a number of Russian cities, for example, Samara and Tomsk, planting poplars is prohibited. At the same time, comprehensive programs are being carried out that include crowning, the use of special reagents that do not allow the seeds to open, and the gradual replacement of poplars with other types of trees - linden, birch, chestnuts. Cutting down all the flowering poplars at once means “denuding” the city streets.

What do they have?

Even the ancient Greeks willingly used “male” poplars, planting them in squares and central streets. It was from the Greeks that plant science borrowed the word “populus” - “folk” - for the name of the poplar genus.

Napoleon was a passionate fan of poplars. According to legend, he ordered these trees to be planted throughout Europe along the route of his army. The great Corsican was sure that he would return triumphantly along the green alleys of fast-growing poplars.

IN modern Europe, according to the leading researcher of the Latvian botanical garden Inara Bondar, the express gardening program was fully implemented. “Male” “non-dusting” poplars were planted and, over time, replaced.

Various types of poplar are widespread in Canada and the United States. In some American cities planting “female” poplars is prohibited for the same reason - to avoid a “blizzard”. On special plantations, sterile hybrid varieties are grown, on which seeds do not develop; they are used primarily for the production of cellulose.

Americans use flexible poplar wood to make snowboards, boats, boxes, pallets and even electric guitars. University of Michigan biologist Curtis Wilkerson proposes using genetically modified poplars as an effective and cheap biofuel.

In Edmonton, Canada, starting in 1980, a program was implemented to replace poplars with other trees. It only affected urban areas, but wild trees continue to cause many problems for city residents. For residents who dream of planting a poplar near their home, as well as landscape designers who want to use this tree to decorate their gardens, Canadian authorities strongly recommend choosing only “male trees” or sterile varieties in special nurseries, and in addition, promptly replacing old trees.

Poplars are very fast growing, gaining height and leaf mass from the Willow family. Trees grow very quickly during the first 15-20 years of life, but quickly age and die. When the poplar blooms, some people enjoy the white poplar blizzard in the hot summer, while others suffer from allergies. All types of poplars purify city air. There are several dozen species of poplars on earth, many of them are hybrids, grown through the efforts of dendrologists.

Balsamic

The balsam poplar lives in Canada and North America. The usual height is 17-20 m; old fifty-year-old trees often reach a height of 30 m.

The diameter of the spreading poplar crown is 10-12 m; the thick trunk is difficult for two people to grasp, since its diameter can be up to two meters. At the base of the trunk, the bark of the plant is dark, uneven, with bursting, clumsy furrows; higher up the trunk, elastic, smooth skin of a white-gray hue begins.

The branches are covered with leaves 5-14 cm long and 4-7 cm wide. The shape of the leaves is round at the petiole and wedge-shaped, tapering to a sharp tip; the edges of the leaves are covered with finely toothed relief.

The leaf is smooth, with a cool leathery surface and a long dense petiole (2-2.5 cm), the upper part of the leaf is shiny, dark green, the color of the lower plate is gray-green, very light, the skeletal basis of the leaf structure is clearly visible from below.

The buds thrown out in the spring are large, elongated, up to 2 cm high. The buds and newly unfurled young leaves are sticky from a sticky resin coating covering them with a pleasant aroma.

A tree is considered mature only after 5 or 6 years. This poplar species is used to create living, windbreaks for fields and.

Laurel leaf

Habitat Western and Eastern Siberia, up to the Angara River. It grows in Altai, in the foothills of the Dzungarian Alatau. Distributed in river valleys on pebbles, on mountain slopes, and on crushed stone.

The height of the plant is from 10 to 20 m, the thickness of the trunk is up to 1 m in diameter. This type of poplar is not tall, the skeletal branches are spreading and few in number, and few new, young shoots grow on them per year. Therefore, the crown of the plant is not dense, slightly sparse.

Did you know? In total, there are 95 varieties of poplar trees growing on planet Earth.

The leathery cover of the trunk is gray with cracks. The tree is not very demanding in terms of lighting and lives on the poor. The roots of the laurel leaf are very deep; it can easily withstand the long, frost-rich Siberian winters.

The color of the bark of young shoots is light yellow, they are slightly pubescent. Escapes unusual looking, and with clearly visible ribs, as they mature, the shoots become round in diameter.
This ribbing of the shoots is due to longitudinal cork-like growths, which is hallmark this particular type of poplar. The buds are oval, sharp, brown-green, elongated, covered with a sticky and pleasantly smelling substance.

The foliage is large, leaf length 6-14 cm, width from 2 to 5 cm. The shape of the leaf is oval-elongated, narrowed towards the end, the leaf has a finely indented border, smooth to the touch, cool, leathery, with a two-color color (green-whitish). The blossoming foliage is sticky and light green.

Due to the frequent freezing of the branches, an abundant growth of young shoots occurs; this makes the crown of the tree seem extremely lush and very decorative.

Flowering in this variety occurs in May-June; the fringed earrings are whitish in color, loosely fluffy, and covered with yellow pollen.

The male form of catkins is cylindrical, from 3 to 8 cm long, they contain 20-25 stamens with filaments and anthers, the female form of flowering (catkins) has flowers sparsely located on them, a pistil with a two-lobed stigma. The blades on the pestle are located downwards.
After ripening (May-June), fruits in the form of quadrangular swollen balls are formed in place of the earring inflorescences. The finally ripened seeds scatter from the bursting testes. Poplars from the laurel family are used in plantings along highways.

Important! The poplar family is divided into male and female trees. But only females spread fluff around when flowering.

Pyramidal

Pyramidal poplar is a light-loving plant. Very tall, the species description indicates a maximum height of 35-40 m and a maximum lifespan of up to 300 years. Grows in Italy, the Caucasus, Ukraine, Central Asia, in Russia.

Loves neutral and slightly acidic, moderately saturated with moisture, but well lit by the sun. Grows quickly in the first 10 years. The head of the plant is narrow, clearly elongated upward, the branches are powerful, strong, growing at an angle of 90° relative to the trunk.
The cut diameter of the trunk can be up to one meter, has weakly defined annual rings, dark gray bark, cut with small cracks. It blooms with small flowers collected in long inflorescences in the form of male and female earrings; female earrings are 5-7 cm longer than male ones.

Flowering occurs immediately after buds break. The color of women's and men's earrings is also different, men's are burgundy, women's are light milky.

The young plant has smooth and elastic, light gray or light olive bark. The shape of the pyramidal poplar leaf is clearly triangular, with a wide, even base, sharply tapering towards the top of the leaf.

Like other species of representatives of Willows, the pyramidal one has shiny, dark green leaves with a white color along the lower plate, finely toothed along the edge. The leaves are attached to the branches with a short, strong petiole, slightly flattened lengthwise.

With the onset of autumn, the foliage turns yellow; in mid-October, the leaf cover crumbles to the foot of the trees.
The roots of this plant are located deep down and wide, some of the roots are usually located on the surface of the ground near the base of the tree. Grows well in urban environments, there is no negative reaction to emissions of automobile gases into the air.

Black (sedge)

Black poplar or Osokor - has become widespread in Russia and Ukraine, grows in parks and squares, in deciduous forests. It is used in city landscaping due to its exceptional ability to release oxygen.

One plant can produce as much oxygen as 10 and three large, old ones. In one summer season, black poplar purifies city air from 20 kg of dust accumulations; its buds also have healing properties and are used in folk medicine.
During its life, the giant reaches a height of 35 meters, its lifespan is from 60 to 300 years. Old trees are spreading, stocky, with a powerful trunk, covered with skin growths, which over time hardened and became shapeless wood. The bark is rough, almost black.

The buds are tightly pressed to the branches, round, large, with light scales, covered with gluten. The leaves are hard and large, triangular or diamond-shaped, attached to the branches by flattened cuttings.

Flowering - long catkins, burgundy and yellow, male and female varieties. Male and female flowers differ in the color and length of the inflorescences; female inflorescences are usually twice as long and more magnificent.
Flowering occurs in late May or early June. After seed ripening, dispersal (reproduction) begins. The poplar family has earned recognition and love in different parts of the world globe its diversity, rapid growth and unpretentiousness.

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In 2010, winter showed its harsh character with frosts and February snowfalls, the beginning of spring with a sharp lack of water, and summer began earlier than usual by at least 2 weeks. Abnormally warm April gave rise to the rapid development of greenery - already now, in the first ten days of June, ovaries are hanging on apple and pear trees, the size of which corresponds to the fruits of mid-late June, at the same time this year lilac, bird cherry, rowan have bloomed, and leaves on birch trees have unfurled in Moscow already in last decade April. And, of course, the poplar made itself known, and how it did!

Based on long-term observations of the development of poplars, it has been established that the emergence of fluff begins in early June and lasts approximately 2 weeks - but this occurs in normal, not abnormal conditions. climatic conditions. Take a look - outside the window, a downy snowstorm sweeps away the sun's glare, city greenery, pockmarked streets... and this disgrace began in mid-May!! The lawns are covered with a white blanket, with every step the fluff flies up from under your feet, floats in the air, preventing you from breathing...

True, according to experts, such a picture was already observed in the 70s. But this doesn’t make it any easier for us. Let's figure out why many of us are hostile to poplar fluff and, in general, to poplar itself.

Why did they start planting poplars in cities?

Poplars have been used in urban landscaping since 1946. After the Great Patriotic War it was necessary to restore the appearance of Moscow as quickly as possible and replace the lost trees. It should be noted that previously in landscaping to create parks, gardens, shady areas, hedges and protective strips, coniferous and deciduous tree species were used - spruce, pine, larch, birch, bird cherry, apple tree, maple, ash, elm, oak, as well as shrubs - lilac, hawthorn, mock orange, acacia, bladderwort and some other species, but poplar was not used for these purposes.

The lost mature trees urgently needed to be replaced with something. Dendrologists suggested that it is characterized by rapid growth, a dense crown, ease of reproduction, resistance to urban conditions, decorative appearance, occupies less area than other trees, due to the compactness of the crown, and is relatively cheap. The proposal was considered, the landscaping program was approved by Stalin, and poplars came to Moscow and began their victorious march across the country. And, by the way, they fulfilled their task perfectly. But…

Mistake or oversight?

As a result, residents of the entire country are doomed to eternal “downy” torment. Why did this happen? And - the eternal question - Who is to blame?

Did the scientists make a mistake in their choice? The answer is no, we were not mistaken. So what's the big deal then?

Poplar is a dioecious plant, meaning it has male and female trees. The male ones bloom, giving pollen, pollinating the female ones, and the female ones already produce seeds equipped with downy fluff - the hated down.

A reasonable question: Was it really impossible to plant only male specimens?

So that’s exactly what was done! Only male plants were planted - and this became a fatal coincidence. You can’t fool nature, and this was perfectly demonstrated by the example of poplars. It is known that plants, some animals and insects in certain situations, adapting to living conditions, are capable of changing sex. After all, the trees had to reproduce, so they found a way out. To everyone's horror and displeasure, botanists, dendrologists, and other industry specialists have observed the appearance of female catkins on male poplars, on branches next to the male flowers.

By the way, it should be clarified. Poplar fluff is not flowers, but poplar seeds. Poplar blooms even before the leaves appear; its male catkins appear immediately after the buds burst.

So does fluff cause allergies or not?

Allergists unanimously refute all attacks on poplar, claiming that poplar fluff does not cause allergies, but can provoke them. The period of summer fluff coincides with the flowering period of cereal grasses, birch, linden and other plants, the pollen of which causes very unpleasant and even life-threatening allergic reactions in sensitive people. And fluff is a carrier of pollen, various pathogens, and man-made pollutants.

The fluff itself is also unpleasant, being a purely mechanical irritant - in the heat it sticks to the body, tickles, gets into the nose, ears, and under glasses. Agree, it’s not very pleasant.

Besides, even without fluff, life in the city is full of troubles.

People suffering from hay fever - a reaction to pollen - can be advised not to leave the house without a gauze bandage, not to keep windows and balcony doors open for a long time, to use allergy medications prescribed by a doctor and in no case to self-medicate with herbal infusions and decoctions - this can be done instead relief to sharply worsen your condition.

But this is not the only harmfulness of fluff. It penetrates the premises, accumulating in the corners in lush snowdrifts and piles, adding to the hassle of cleaning. The fluffs themselves are dry, volatile, weightless, and very flammable. Fluff is a fire hazard; one unextinguished cigarette butt thrown into the trash can can lead to a fire. And children often have fun throwing lit matches into the fluff.

How to fix the situation?

The only way, in my opinion, to radically change the situation is to replace Balsam Poplar and other non-fruit-bearing types of poplars, for example, Berlin Poplar, for several years. True, utility services do not want to hear about this, citing the excessive cost of the event and lack of funds. Choosing a suitable replacement crop is, of course, not an easy task. How to avoid getting burned again. But this must be done, otherwise the torment will continue to last.

It is possible and necessary to carry out competent pruning of poplars, forming them “from a young age” into a tree with several skeletal branches, and not into one bare trunk with thin branches, as is now done with mature, 50-60-year-old trees.