Range: New Hampshire across to southeastern North Dakota, south central Texas, east to northern Florida.
Distinguishing Features: The Cottonwood is easily recognized by its triangular leaves with flattened leafstalks. The cottony seeds, when the fruits are mature, are also distinctive.
BIG-TOOTH ASPEN
Populus grandidentata Michx.
Other Name: Large-tooth Aspen.
Growth Form: Medium tree to 60 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 1½ feet; crown rounded.
Bark: Grayish-green, smooth at first, becoming shallowly fissured and broken up into thin scales.
Twigs: Grayish-green, with numerous orange “dots,” hairy when young but becoming smooth; leaf scars alternate, raised, 3-lobed, each with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Ovoid, pointed, chestnut-brown, somewhat hairy, up to one-eighth inch long.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades nearly circular in outline, short-pointed at the tip, rounded at the base, up to 5 inches long, nearly as broad, with several rather coarse teeth along the edges, green on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, smooth when mature; leafstalks up to 3 inches long, flat, enabling the leaf to rustle even in gentle breezes.