Back in the day, black poplar trees were one of the most prolific trees in East Anglia. The species is now one of the most endangered native trees in the UK. There are many subspecies but the rare one is the Populus Nigra Betulifolia.
We are lucky enough to have a good sized black poplar in the village of Otley.
In 1975 there were only about 1000 of the native trees known of in the UK. In the past their timber was used a lot for light agricultural use, such as for the bottom of carts or curved timbers for cruck-framed buildings.
It is a riverside tree that loves damp soil. Because of this, they were affectionately known as the Water Poplar. When we began to drain much of our land, the black poplar suffered and went further and further into decline.
Our black polar needs a friend!
Sadly, there is little hope of our male tree ever finding a female of his species. In the black polar population, females are now extremely rare. This puts the population even further at risk. One of the reasons there are far fewer female trees is that they produce seeds with lots of fluff! Residents, councils and farmers tended not to like the messy nature of female black poplars so they were often cut down.
The older trees provide excellent habitat for invertebrates, insects and epiphytic plants, and of course, they provide shade, cool our air and give us oxygen.
What a shame it would be to lose this species from our landscape.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Go and say hi to our lonely Black Poplar. You’ll find him on the footpath that goes through the fields between the centre of the village and the Otley end of Ipswich Road. (He’s on private farmland but the public right of way does go directly past him near the new wooden ‘bridge’).
- Show him some love by taking a photo of him in all seasons and weathers and share with us on comments below. He might not be the prettiest tree you’ll ever see but he’s got character – let’s celebrate that!
You must be delighted with this morning’s BBC Today interview at 7.23am (14.3.2025) with Fi Hailstone describing the NT Black Poplar recovery project, collecting seed and cuttings to propagate trees with vigorous, diverse genetics that can be distributed throughout wetland areas.