Click on the images help you identify a cottonwood.
Form
Large tree, 50 to 80 feet tall, with a trunk diameter of 36 to over 48 inches. Young trees develop a narrow, conical crown, which becomes broad and open with maturity, supported by a massive trunk.
Bark
Light gray on young trees, dark gray and rough on older trees.
Leaf
Leaves are simple, alternate on the stem, 3 to 5 inches long, nearly as wide, and broadly ovate or triangular. They are pointed, square at the base, and finely toothed or wavy along the edges. Undersides are covered with soft white hairs. Flattened, slender stems measure 2 to 3 inches. Winter buds are covered with chestnut-brown, resinous scales. Leaves turn yellow to yellowish orange in autumn, and buds become sticky in late spring.
Fruit (seed)
Fruit consists of two- to four-valved, thin capsules borne on short stalks in drooping catkins. Minute, pale brown-white seeds, borne in clusters of white cottony hairs, are dispersed in late May or June. Cottonwoods have separate male and female trees; only female trees produce cotton.
Range
Found throughout Minnesota, often forming extensive groves or growing along rivers. Can grow on dry sites but develops most rapidly on moist soils. Shade-intolerant and very fast-growing.
Wood uses
Wood is soft, lightweight, warps easily when drying, and rots readily. Used for boxes, fencing, fuel, rough lumber for interior use, and high-grade magazine paper for half-tone illustrations. Extensively used in windbreaks due to rapid growth and adaptability. Usually propagated by cuttings or seedlings and commonly found along watercourses.