I was at a local big box store today to buy some wood. Wanted 1/4" poplar for a project. The piece on the left is some leftover, or not yet used, from 2 years ago. The piece on the right was purchased today. It was labeled as poplar. Regardless of what it is, it was purchased to use for the intended project. Just thought the difference is looks was quite dramatic. Other larger Poplar boards had the more familiar look like the piece on the left.