196 TREES OF MINNESOTA. 



Twigs and smaller branches thick, smoother but sharp angled 

 or winged, at length becoming round. When the leaves un- 

 fold they are gummy and fragrant with a balsamic odor, and 

 covered more or less with white soft hairs; at maturity they 

 are thick, leathery and green on both sides. Catkins pend- 

 ulous; the staminate densely flowered and from three to four 

 inches in length and a half inch in thickness; the pistillate 

 sparsely flowered, thin stemmed and often a foot long before 

 the ripening of the seeds. Stamens sixty or more to each 

 flower. Seed oblong, 1-12 of an inch in length, and surrounded 

 by a tuft of long hairs which aid in its distribution. Tree 

 sometimes a hundred feet high with trunk occasionally seven 

 or eight feet in diameter. 



Distribution. From Quebec south to Florida and west to 

 the base of the Rocky Mountains, from Alberta to New Mexico 

 along banks of streams where it often forms extensive groves. 

 In Minnesota common in the southern part of the state, but 

 rare farther north. 



Propagation. By seeds and by cuttings. Seedlings can 

 be obtained in large quantities on the sand bars along our 

 rivers and on shores of receding lakes and this is the chief 

 source of supply. The opinion is common that seedlings are 

 longer lived than plants from cuttings. 



Properties of wood. Light, soft, spongy and weak although 

 close grained; dark brown with thick nearly white sapwood. 

 Specific gravity 0.3889; weight of a cubic foot 24.24 pounds. 



Uses. The Cottonwood has been largely used in the 

 western states for timber and fuel, as a shade tree and for 

 windbreaks. For all these purposes it is a very inferior tree 

 but on account of its abundance, rapid growth and hardiness 

 it has almost necessarily been largely used in the pioneer 

 work of settlement. As a timber tree it is inferior on account 

 of its timber warping badly in drying and being extremely 

 difficult to season. As a tree for shade and windbreaks it is 

 not so valuable as the Green Ash, White Willow, White Elm 

 or Box Elder; on the dry prairie it is subject to leaf rust, is 

 short lived and fails to make a shade dense enough to keep 

 the grass out of groves. The pistillate form is objectionable 

 on account of the cottony floats with which it fills the air 



