3. Populus ciliata Wall. ex Royle, Ill. Bot. Himal. Mts. 346 t. 84a f. 1. 1839; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 638. 1888; R. Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 3: 509. 1956; R. Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 3: 509. 1956; A. Neumann in Rech.f., Fl. Iran. 65: 10. 1969; R.R. Stewart, Ann. Cat. Vasc. Pl. W. Pak. Kashm. 181. 1972; F. Zhenfu, Z. Shidong & A.K. Skvortsov l.c. 158. (Fig.11, A-E).
Vern: Paloch; Phals, Chalun, Eng: Himalayan Poplar.
P. rotundifolia Griff., Notul. 4: 382, 1854.
Large tree; bark on young stems greenish grey, smooth; brown longitudinally fissured on old stems. Bud sticky, bud scales brown shining. Leaves petiolate, petiole 5-13 cm long, hairy; lamina 7-18 x 6-13 cm, broadly ovate, crenate-serrulate, teeth minutely hairy, base cordate or rounded, 3-5 nerved, minutely pubescent on the lower surface, tip acute to acuminate. Male catkin 7.5-10.5 cm long, compact in flower. Male flower: Pedicel small, bract oblanceolate, hairy, disk obliquely cup-shaped, crenulate; stamens many, anthers olong, longer than filaments. Female catkin (in fruit) 15-30.5 cm, lax. Female flower: Disk embracing half the ovary, margin undulate, stigmas 3-4, very large, obcordate. Capsule 7.5-10.5 mm, orbicular, 3-4-valved (not warty); pedicel 2.5-10 mm long. Seed covered by long silky hairs.
Fl. Per.: March-April.
Type: Hab. Kemaon, Northern face of Choor, near Muttiana and at Seran, in Lower Kunawur; Wallich Cat. no. 2796 (K-W).
The trees are sometimes, lopped for fodder; Distribution: Pakistan (Chitral) eastwards to Kashmir, 4-10000 ft, along the Himalayas through India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Myanmar.
Four varieties have been described, our material agrees with var. ciliata.
