Plants of the genus Populus are abundant in resources,consisting more than 100 natural species throughout the world,distributed in Europe,Asia,and North America widely.Because of its fast growth,easy reproduction and strong adaptability,etc.,the genus Populus is widely used in afforestation,restoring vegetation,solving ecosystem problem,raw materials for pulping and papermaking.There are several kinds of chemical components in the Populus plants.In nearly 15 years,nearly 200 compounds were identified from the Populus plants,consisting of phenolic glycosides,flavonoids,organic acids and terpenoids.Some of these compounds exhibited a broad array of the pharmacological activities,such as antibacterial,anti-inflammatory,anti-oxidant,anti-tumor,hypoglycemic and neuroprotective,etc.In the present paper,we summarize the research reports related with plants of the genus Populus,review the research progress of chemical components according to phenolic glycosides,flavonoids,organic acids,volatile components and other components,and describe pharmacological effects of this genus to provide references for the in-depth studies of medicinal active ingredients and their action mechanism on this genus,hoping to promote the further rational development and utilization of the Populus plants in medicine and health care.