Eastern Cottonwood
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 Eastern Cottonwood
Populus deltoides |
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| Populus deltoides L. |
The Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) is a large cottonwood (poplar) tree native to North America, growing throughout the eastern United States and the southernmost part of eastern Canada. It is in fact one of the largest North American hardwood trees. The Eastern Cottonwood is one of the three species of cottonwoods denoted with the section Aegiros, the other two being the Fremont Cottonwood and Black Poplar. It usually grows near the edges of forests.
The tree's leaves are large, deltoid (triangular), with a truncated (flattened) base and a long, flat petiole. They are dark green in the summer and fade to brown in the fall. During the winter, the branches grow many pointed buds, and in spring the buds open to reveal the green tissue that develops into leaves. The tree has silvery-white, smooth, lightly fissured bark when it is young, but as it matures, the bark becomes brown and deeply fissured.
The Eastern Cottonwood is a dioecious tree. The female flowers release small seeds attached to cotton-like strands after they have been fertilized.
[edit] Summary of physical characteristics
- Leaves: Alternate, simple, deltoid shaped, with crenate margin. Petiole flat. Large heart-shaped leaf scar.
- Twigs: Stout, yellowish twigs with three ridges (associated with bundle scars). Terminal buds large, fusiform and resinous. Lateral buds somewhat appressed.
- Fruits: Capsule, tiny seeds surrounded by cottony tufts disseminated in late spring.
- Bark: Greenish yellow, becoming gray with thick ,flattened ridges and deep furrows.
- Habit: Fast-growing tree on rich sandy soils and high moisture availability (phreatophyte).
