COTTONWOOD 



Populut deltoides Monk* 



The Willow Family 



: u u i m. 



Habit and Habitat : A large tree, reaching a height feet 



and a trunk diameter of 3-6 teet; usually branching low down, when 

 »wn in the open, to form a wide-spreading, open, symmetrica] crown 

 ot massive horizontal and ascending branches and Btout n • 

 crooked branches and oiten angled twigs. When in the forest or in 

 closely planted groves the straight, ere» • leaning, trunk 



is tree trom branches tor a height of L&-30 feet. Prefers tne rich, 



moist soils of river banks, river-bottoms and moist woodlands. 



Leaves and Buds: Leaves alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, nearly 

 as broad, broadly deltoid-ovate, coarsely toothed above the entire flat 



or heart-shaped base, teeth incurved, thick and firm, shiny, more or 

 less waxy, and dark green above, paler beneath, turning bright yellow m 



autumn; petioles --■> inches long, slender, compressed laterally, yellow 

 or red, terminal bud '—•» inch long, conical, acute, very resinous, 

 shiny, yellowish or chestnut-brown. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers in April or May, before the leaves 

 or as they untold, produced in pendulous or drooping catkins; the stam- 

 inate in short-stalked, densely-flowered, reddish catkins .')-.") inches long; 

 the pistillate in short-stalked, few-flowered, upon greenish catkins, 5-7 in- 

 ches Long; calyx 0, corolla 0; stamens numerous, yellowish to red on 

 brownish papery scales; ovary stout, surrounded at the base by a cup- 

 shaped disk. Fruit a 2-4-valved, dry pod or capsule, borne in loosely ar- 

 ranged, pendulous catkins, 5-8 inches long; seeds numerous, light brov 

 densely cottony with white or slightly rusty hair-. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: Bark on old trees ashy gray, thick, deeply 

 furrowed into broad, rounded or narrow-edged ridges, broken into SCS 

 on young stems and branches smooth, light yellow-green or almost 

 white, with dark splotches; young shoots often more or less zigzag 

 and longitudinally ridged. Wood dark brown, sapwood thick, nearly 

 white, light, soft, close-grained, not strong, warps badly in drying, diffi- 

 cult to season; used in the manufacture of paper pulp, cheap packing 

 boxes and crates, poles, and stove wood. 



Distribution in the State: The cottonwood is very common through 

 out the United States east of the Rocky .Mountains, but commonest and 

 of greatest size in the Mississippi-Missouri valley. It is very common 

 in the Missouri and Iowa forests from which it has entered Nebraska 

 and extended Westward across the state and beyond. The species has 

 in planted in *rr ad as windbreaks very commonly throughout this 



State. Map 7. 



Remark-: This tree develops to magnificent proportions in the 

 bottom lands along the Missouri and Platte rivers and their tributai 

 The tree grOWS rapidly in a great variety of situations and for this 

 reason it was a great favorite with the early settlers of tins state. 

 ttonWOOd lumber is cut in considerable quantity in this state and is 

 useful as roujrh dimension stuff. 



—4. 



