Plant Family: Salicaceae
Growth Form: Large, fast-growing tree that reaches 30 meters in height.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, triangular, with coarse rounded teeth, 6 – 12 cm long, petioles flattened. Two or three small glands are seen at the base of the midrib (use a lens).
Bark: Creamy white to greenish yellow and smooth on young trees, becoming gray, thick and furrowed on mature trees.
Flowers: Dioecious, male catkins drooping, 8 – 10 cm long, female catkins upright, March to April.
Fruits: Long clusters of small ovoid capsules that split open to release the cottony seeds on the wind in early summer.
Habitat: River banks, floodplains, lake shores,open deciduous woods.
Range: Common bottomland tree throughout the eastern U.S., west to the Prairie States. Western Cottonwood of the Rocky Mountains and further west is considered a separate variety (P. deltoides var. occidentalis).
Similar Species: Quaking Aspen is a smaller tree with smaller teeth along the leaf margins.
Comments: The broad crown makes this species a good shade tree. The wood is light and tends to warp so it is not used commercially in New England. Eastern Cottonwood is the state tree of Kansas and Nebraska.
