Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin

Populus deltoides

Family: Salicaceae

eastern cottonwood, plains cottonwood

Derek Anderson

University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)

Open Interactive Map

Etymology: Populus: Latin for "poplar," derivation obscure
Plants: perennial tree to 100' tall with spreading branches and wide crown; nearly black bark becoming deeply furrowed
Leaves: broadly triangular with a slightly heart-shaped base
Flowers: seeds on cottony hairs; catkin hanging
Habitat: riverbanks, moist woods and prairies, lakeshores
Conservation Status: Native - potentially invasive

Marshes, lake bluffs, clay banks, sandspits, lake dunes (wooded or open), lakeshores, along ponds, river flats and islands, sandbars, open areas along streams, thickets, gravel and cobble shores, cliffs and ridgetops, alder thickets, willow thickets; hardwood swamps and floodplain forests. Most often encountered as an invader of fields, ditches, meadows, roadsides, railroad corridors, old quarries, vacant lots, dumps, gravel pits, prairies, and sedge meadows. Cottonwoods can attain enormous girth and height when growing in the open, but they are not long-lived. They are important early-successional trees in floodplain forests and large specimens are often found in forest interiors surrounded by later successional species. The numerous silky hairs attached to the seeds aid in their dispersal and give the tree its common name. In late spring, the dispersing seeds and hairs sometimes blanket lawns and create the look of a fresh snowfall. Cottonwood ranges mostly south of the Tension Zone and has no doubt expanded its range since European colonization. Our plants are subsp. monilifera (Aiton) Eckenw. See also P. balsamifera.