Populus balsamifera Linnaeus var. candicans (Aiton) A. Gray; P. balsamifera var. subcordata Hylander.

Trees; crown wide. Branches stout and spreading; branchlets chestnut colored, terete, tomentose. Buds large, very viscid. Leaves of sprouts and mature trees nearly uniformly shaped; petiole terete, 3-5 cm, tomentose; leaf blade broadly ovate-deltoid, 12-16 × ca. 10 cm, abaxially whitish, adaxially dull green, both surfaces pilose, more densely so along veins, base cordate, rarely truncate, margin crenate-serrate, ciliate, apex acuminate. Fruiting catkin to 16 cm; rachis pubescent. Capsule ovoid, glabrous, 2-valved, often sterile, stipitate. Fl. May.

No male specimens have been seen by the authors.

Planted. Xinjiang [Asia, Europe, North America, but native range uncertain, probably of hybrid origin]