William R. Watt ) writes:

the poplar we have here is very soft fast growing and not used on boats.

there are different varieties of poplar.

out of curiosity I checked a couple of my reference books ("Native Trees
of Canada (1946) Dept. Mines and Resources, "The Forest Trees of Ontario"
(1986) Minstry of Natural Resources) and poplar is (was?) used for veneers
plywoods, as well as matches, boxes, plywood, and some lumber on the praries
where little else grows. Poplars are also called "cottonwood" as well as
"aspen" and they are a close relative of willows. All the varieties are
lightweight, soft, not strong, and porous. Most are described as fine
textured and white in colour which would explain their use as veneer.

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