Hybrid poplar seedlings

Scientifically known as Populus sp., the hybrid poplar comes in many strains, often crossbred or cloned to produce male only clones as female trees once mature tend to produce exuberant amounts of seed that can become quite a nuisance. The hybrid poplar has many uses, including shade trees, wind breaks, commercially for pallets and construction, pulp for paper and more recently as an energy crop used for biomass in the energy industry. Poplar wood is also used for the core construction of snowboards and sometimes in the bodies of electric guitars and drums. Logs of hybrid poplar are even used to grow shiatke mushrooms. Hyrbid poplars are known for their fast growth, often putting on 4 to 8 feet of growth per year once established, reaching heights between 45 to 150 feet.