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Outstanding Features:
Rapid growth rate, widely adaptable.
Description:
Height: 60-80'
Width: 40-60'
Hardiness Zone: 3a
Cottonwood is a rapid growing tree and becomes very large with age. Sexes are separate. Male catkins show colorful red stamens in the spring. The small, light seeds are attached to a white cottony substance which aids in wind dispersal of the seeds. Female trees produce tremendous amounts of the seed which can literally make the ground white. Tree form is upright spreading with an oval to rounded crown. The glossy medium green leaves are 3-5" long and equally wide. Fall color is yellow. Because of the tree's large size and tendency for branches to break in wind and ice storms, Cottonwood is usually not recommended for residential landscapes or other small properties. It is a good tree for highway and park plantings where little maintenance is possible. Cottonwood is native throughout the upper midwest.
Requirements and Culture:
Quite tolerant to a broad range of soil conditions. Grows natively along streams and in flood plains.
Limitations:
Because of its soft wood, branches break
easily. The large quantities of "cotton" can be a nuisance.
Seedlings can become a garden weed problem.
Selected Cultivars:
`Siouxland' is a male cultivar and
thus does not produce the objectionable "cotton".
`Robusta' - is a hybrid poplar with a broad oval crown. It grows
rapidly. Does not produce seed.
Related Species:
Populus maximowiczii - Japanese Poplar
is a fast growing large tree with coarse, dark green leaves and
attractive greenish-white bark.
Photo Credit:
1 K. Warren; 2 E. Hasselkus. Photo 1 is `Siouxland'.
Minnesota Power | University of Minnesota | Northern
States Power Company
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COTTONWOOD Populus deltoides