Populus laurifolia

The laurel poplar with its irregular and attractively twisted crown grows on the river banks of the central Asian forests and steppes. The lower branches are weeping; the upper ones stand out pale in colour. The twisting trunk has a pale grey bark, turning light brown with age. The young upper shoots are slender, angular and distinctly hairy. The angles are visible even after thickness increases as vertical stripes or ridges in the trunk, which helps with identification. The name is a reference to the narrow leathery folded-edged leaves of the trunk side-shoots.