Lombardy poplar
Introduced, naturalised · Up to 38 m

Lombardy poplar

Populus nigra 'Italica' · Salicaceae

Lombardy poplar is a narrow column that tapers to a point. Its branches are held upright, close against the trunk. It is usually planted in long lines.

Often mistaken for aspen. How to tell them apart →
Know it byShapeUp to 38 m, tapering to a point, every branch held upright.Leaves5 to 8 cm, long-tipped, finely toothed, crowded on the shoots.BarkGreyish brown and rough, the base flaring out in ridges.

Then check · TwigsSmooth amber shoots with gummy buds pressed close and spiralling round them, in sprays that point upwards.

How to identify a Lombardy poplar

Lombardy poplar: shape
Shape

A narrow column up to 38 m, tapering to a point, with every branch held upright against the trunk.

Lombardy poplar: leavesAndrew Skotnicki, CC BY 4.0
Leaves

Small and triangular, 5 to 8 cm long, with a long tip and finely toothed edges, crowded thickly along the shoots.

Lombardy poplar: barkAndrew Skotnicki, CC BY 4.0
Bark

Greyish brown and rough with age, with burrs, woody lumps, spaced up the trunk and a base that flares out in ridges.

Learn the Lombardy poplar in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely

Every part, in photographs

Lombardy poplar leaves: small, long-tipped, hairless, in dense massesAndrew Skotnicki, CC BY 4.0
LeavesSmall, long-tipped, hairless, in dense masses
Lombardy poplar bark: greyish brown and craggy, with burrsAndrew Skotnicki, CC BY 4.0
BarkGreyish brown and craggy, with burrs
Lombardy poplar shape: narrow column, every branch held upright
ShapeNarrow column, every branch held upright

When to look

JFMAMJJASOND
In leaf
Catkins

In leaf: April to October · Catkins: March to April

Every tree on the calendar

Where you’ll find it

Planted along field edges and roads, and used for windbreaks and screens more than any other poplar. It is common in the warmer parts of Britain, and sometimes spreads by shoots from its roots.

What it’s mistaken for

Lombardy poplar: outlineAspen: outlineLombardy poplar or aspen?Both hang small leaves on flattened stalks that are rarely still.Outline
  • Black poplarBoth are the same species, with near enough the same leaf. Shape. Lombardy poplar: a narrow column, every branch held upright. Black poplar: broad, on a short leaning trunk, limbs arching down.
  • English oakEnglish oak has a narrow, upright garden form, cypress oak, and in winter, when both are bare, people mistake one for the other. Shape. Lombardy poplar: every branch held tightly upright against the trunk. English oak: twisting branches, even on an upright tree.

More willows and poplars

AspenPopulus tremulaBay willowSalix pentandraBlack poplarPopulus nigraWeeping willowSalix × sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma'White poplarPopulus albaWhite willowSalix alba
In the app

There’s more of the Lombardy poplar in Treely

  • Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
  • Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
  • A short round each dayUntil you know the Lombardy poplar on sight, from any side
  • Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
App StoreGoogle Play

Free to download.

Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: steve_mcwilliam (CC0), Andrew Skotnicki (CC BY 4.0), Jens-Christian Svenning (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.