Leaves may be alternate, lobed, toothed, or entire. Buds are imbricate with many scales.
Flowers are dioecious and borne in pendulous catkins.
Fruit is a capsule containing seeds with basal hairs that allow the seeds to be carried by the wind. Key to Populus Species I. Leaf stalks are not flattened vertically and are rounded, or nearly so. A. Leaves are lobed, white, and woolly below. Foliage is toothed or shallow-lobed, especially on vigorous shoots. Young twigs and buds are often white and woolly.