Populus nigra L.

vernacular Lombardy poplar — species · Salicaceae

USDA: PONI
GBIF: 3040227
Rank: species

Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra) — Platephotograph · AyotteCC BY-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Salicaceae Mirb.
Genus: Populus

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 1 county across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 1 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: High
Moisture use: High
Fire: High
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 160 min.
Precipitation: 20–50 in/yr
pH range: 5–8.5
Root depth: 32 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 190 ft
Height @ 20 y: 80 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: White
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Spring
Spread rate: None
Stratify: No
Propagation: cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Fuelwood: Low
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1 county across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 I ▾

Washington 44009

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PONI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3040227 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z