Plains cottonwood

Leaves

Form

• Triangular, tip taper-pointed
• Often pendulous
• 1 or 2 glands at the base of the leaf blade
• Neoformed leaves broadly ovate, hairy when unfolding
• Base more rounded than eastern cottonwood

Length

• 5–10 cm
• Tip longer than eastern cottonwood

Colour

• Upper surface bright shiny green
• Lower surface slightly paler
• Petiole yellowish-green

Margin

• 5–15 rounded teeth per side, no teeth on the tip or near the petiole
• Narrow, translucent
• Teeth smaller and more numerous on neoformed leaves

Petiole

• Smooth
• Hairless
• Flattened
• Long

Buds

Form

• Terminal bud 3-sided
• Slender, long-pointed
• Very resinous, covered with minute hairs
• Lateral leaf buds slightly smaller, diverging from the twig
• Flower buds stout
• Leaf scars large, 3-lobed, with eyelash-like hairs at juncture of bud and scar

Length

• About 20 mm

Colour

• Yellowish-brown

Twigs

Form

• Stout, smooth, hairless
• Angular in cross-section
• Narrow ridges extend down from either side of the bud
• Lenticels sparse, linear

Colour

• Light yellow

Flowers

Length

• Catkins 5–7 cm

Structure

• Dioecious

Fruits

Form

• Stalk hairless
• Capsules oval, tapering to both ends
• Splitting into 3 or 4 parts when mature

Length

• Mature seed catkins 15–25 cm
• Capsules 8–12 mm

Bark

Form

• Smooth, with age becoming deeply furrowed

Colour

• Yellowish-grey, with age becoming dark grey

Size

Height

• To 30 m

Diameter

• To 100 cm

Maximum age

• 50 years

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Long, straight

Crown

• Small, rounded

Open-grown

Trunk

• Short, massive
• Often divided near the ground into a few large, wide-spreading limbs

Crown

• Broad, irregular-shaped, open

Root System

• Usually shallow, wide-spreading
• Sometimes deep

Habitat

Site

• Rich moist sites, stream banks
• Frequently planted on the prairies for shelterbelts

Associated species

• In open stands with other species; sometimes forms pure stands

Range

In the southern parts of the Prairie provinces; south to Texas
Naturalized along many streams and rivers outside its natural range
In Ontario, plains cottonwood intergrades with eastern cottonwood