Natural and cultivated poplars of Irkutsk Province and Buryat Republic

The study aimed at supposed area contact zone of Populus laurifolia and P. suaveolens. We looked for evidence of natural hybridization of the two species, along with the description of local ornamental cultivars which may be involved in these hybridizations, too. Species, cultivars and hybrids we identified by morphological characters traditionally used in poplar taxonomy. We found out that P. laurifolia did not grow in the studied area. Instead, we revealed a westward clinal variability of P. suaveolens characters towards P. laurifolia. Hybrids of three Siberian poplars, P. laurifolia, P. suaveolens and P. nigra dominate among cultivars. We found no evidence of numerous hybridization events between these cultivars and natural species in the area studied.