Leuce poplars, above all white poplar (Populus alba) and its natural hybrid, grey poplar (Populus x canascens) are native stand-forming tree species in Hungary and Serbia. More than 70 per cent of their stands and plantations can be found on calcareous sandy sites in the Danube-Tisza region, so they play a significant role in the poplar management of this part of the country. One of the most important tasks ahead of Hungarian and Serbian poplar growers is to improve the quality of poplar stands and plantations for wood production based on selecting relatively drought-tolerant clones and cultivars. In the paper the juvenile growth and the morphological characteristics of five micropropagated Leuce poplar clones have been evaluated on a marginal site in central Hungary. The clones "H-337" (P. alba x P. grandidentata), "H-384" (P. alba x P. grandidentata) and Populus alba L-12 can be especially promising for quality wood production under arid hydrological conditions.