Also called bam, bamtree, hackmatack, tacamahac poplar and tacamahaca.
Part of
aspen / cottonwood / poplar genus Populus
in
willow family Salicaceae.
Native to 🇨🇦 Canada, Alaska, and northern continental 🇺🇸 USA.
🗺 Map (North America, Central America), 
🗺 today + with climate change (eastern 🇺🇸 USA).
In the West and South of this range, this tree overlaps with a very-closely related sister-species
■ black cottonwood Populus trichocarpa,
which then extends South into much of the Pacific Northwest (Cascadia), 🗻︎ Rocky Mountains, and California.
So closely-related, that some sources call the sister-species
balsam poplar Populus balsamifera subsp. trichocarpa
— a subspecies (variety) of this plant.
And some 🗺 maps confuse or
combine
them.
Can form a hybrid
with
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides
(also part of the
aspen / cottonwood / poplar genus Populus
), forming
balm of Gilead Populus × jackii.
The hybrid occurs occasionally in nature.
Often grows in clonal colonies
[1]
— look around for other stems!
Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)
Populus hosts caterpillars of 367 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.
This plant is also known to be a host for (in areas where invasive)
🐝︎ spotted lanternfly (SLF) Lycorma delicatula.
In areas where this plant is native, this plant is among
the wet-loving (but terrestrial
) shrubs and trees planted to protect eroding streambanks, lakeshores, floodplains, stormwater detention ponds, road slopes and landslides, using a process called
live-staking.
Propagation protocol.
Before you plant this species, consider that this tree grows to a height of 30 m (100 ft).