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SWAMP COTTONWOOD 



{Populus heterophylla L.) 



THIS is a tree of low, wet swamps and the borders 

 of rivers, in the Atlantic coastal and Mississippi 

 Valley regions. The seeds are carried far by winds 

 and germinate on wet sandy soils. The tree attains 

 a height of 70 to 90 feet and a diameter of 3 feet. 

 The branches are usually short, forming a narrow, 

 round-topped head, and the buds are resmous. 



SWAMP COTTONWOOD. 

 Twig, three-quarters natural size. 

 Leaf, one-lialf natural size. 



The leaves are broadly ovate, 3 to 6 inches wide 

 and 4 to 7 inches long, gradually narrowed at the 

 tip and slightly rounded toward the base, usually 

 finely toothed along the edges, dark green above, 

 pale and smooth below ; on rounded leaf -stems from 

 2 to 3 inches long. 



The flowers, which bloom in early spring, are in 

 catkins, the female catkins few-flowered. The fruit, 

 containing the tiny seeds supported by "cotton," is 

 borne on female, or pistillate, trees, and the male, 

 or staminate, flowers occur separately on other trees. 

 The fruit ripens before the leaves are fully grown. 



The wood is light and soft and, as lumber, re- 

 quires special attention in drying to prevent its 

 warping badly. It makes excellent paper pulp for 

 printing half-tone illustrations. 



The European white poplar {Populus alha L.) 

 with light-gray bark and leaves, white woolly be- 

 neath, is often found near old houses and along 

 roadsides. The Lombardy poplar, a tall narrow 

 form of the European black poplar (Populus nigra 

 var. italica Du Eoi) is often planted and is a strik- 

 ing tree for the roadside. 



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