THEY SMELL LIKE GARBAGE WHEN THEY BURN

I have always detested the mighty cottonwood tree! Why you ask? I am allergic to its toxic pollan the male tree emits when producing catkins. When the female catkins release the fluffy white cotton seeds and it begins to waft slowly across the hot summers air, like a blizzard my head fills with congestion, and I can no longer take deep, healthy, life supporting breaths of air.

Struggling to take a deep breath I find my lungs are restricted in the amount of air they will accept because of the earatent that wafts along with the release of seeds. I cough, hack, my eyes run, my throat becomes soar and worst of all I can not smell, taste or eat anything.

I vowed this year I was going to make changes to my life, and well my hatred for the cottonwood tree is one that is within my reach. I hunkered down and researched my natural enemies as I had to find a way to over come my attitude so bigger things can change.

Below are my findings on the cottonwood tree and why it is one of the most important resources we need to care for in the coming years. Combating global warming is going to take all of us, and there are so many things we can do that wont break the bank and in the long run will provide savings, shelter, and spark the imagination for years to come.

THERE ARE FOUR TYPES OF COTTON WOOD TREES

Black (Populous trichocarpa) or Western Cottonwood : grows 150 feet to 200 feet tall, the largest with no branches growing from the trunk until half-way up the tree’s height.

The leaves are broad and oval in shape and are three to seven inches long, three to four inches wide. A Leathery texture, deep shiny green on top and silvery and veins underneath.

The bark is smooth and greenish on young stems and gray with deep furrows on older cottonwoods.

They belong to the willow family and form extensive forest galleries on valley bottoms where groundwater is recharged and along corridors of rivers and streams.

Lance leaf (Populous x acuminata): Similar to narrow leaf, except the leaf stem is three-quarters the length of the blade. The blade is less than twice as long as it is wide with a rounded base.

It is that to be a hybrid of the narrow leaf and plains cottonwoods.

Plains Cottonwood, Eastern Cottonwood, Rio Grande, Necklace Poplar (Populous deltoides) Grows in rich, moist soils, mainly along riverbanks, bottoms, and in rich woods.

It will reach sixty to ninety feet tall and about six to seven feet in diameter. A broad open crown tops this stout, erect and spreading branches.

The leaves are broadly triangular, rounded, toothed in the margin, dark green and three to six inches long, and slightly longer than they are broad.

It has a slender stem that is two and a half to three and a half inches long.

The bark is gray and smooth on a young tree, ash-gray and furrowed on older cottonwood trees.

This particular species is believed to be the tree of life by some, many Native American Tribes used this tree to carve and make sacred, ceremonial items such as poles for the Sun Dance Lodges, and Teepees, drums, canoes, and is thought to hold great magic.

Narrow-leaf (Populous angustifolia) Quaking or Trembling Aspen: Grows from fifty to seventy feet tall, with leaves two to six inches long, thee-fourth to one and one-half inch wide, smooth and yellow-green on top and smooth and paler on the back.

The bark is smooth, unbroken, and pale green on younger twigs, while light gray-brown and brown on older trees.

MALE AND FEMALE TREES

There are both male and female cottonwood trees, the female produces the seeds at 10 years of age. The male saplings are most commonly sold in nurseries although both are legal.

A reddish pink catkin is produced by the males. This catkin is said to be rich in vitamin C and is eatable.

The female tree produces a light green catkin with light green capsules that have three valves containing the seeds. Flowers are four inches long and reassemble cotton fluff, giving the tree its name. The seeds are, scattered in the wind easily and carried by waterways to moist soil; only viable for two to four weeks in June.

MEDICINAL PURPOSES

Salicin (aspirin), is contained in the bark and leaves and is made into a poultice to treat wounds, and reduce swelling and inflammation of arthritic joints.

A concoction made from the bark is said to rid the human body of worms and has been used to treat whooping cough, tuberculosis, and the common cold.

The Native Americans made a tea for the treatment of scurvy.

An ointment is made from the leaf buds for use on burns and skin irritations. The leaf buds are harvested in the late winter to early spring.

BEES RELY ON COTTONWOODS

Bees use the resin from the tree to seal up their hives to protect it from damp, microbes and other insects from getting inside.

The resin, propolis, is also called “bee glue, contains an antiseptic in it. Bee glue is also used to strengthen the honey cells.

Propolis is currently used to prevent other herbal oils from going rancid and molding.

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The oil is high in antioxidants making it an asset when added into cosmetics, body oils, healing and massage salves to help with arthritic joint swelling and sore muscles.

The resin is red or yellow and can be used to waterproof boxes and baskets.

TIMBER CONSIDERED LOW VALUE

On today’s lumber market, cottonwood is used most commonly to make paper and considered a low grade wood.

In the 1800s, it’s value could mean the difference between life and death. It was the only tree to be found on the prairie, lending shade, wood for repairs and fuel.

Cottonwood timbers were used to build homes, barns, other outbuildings and used for fencing.

Many Native Americans believe these trees hold magical stars, which are born from the earth traveling up the root of the tree and out the tips of her branches. A five point star is in the live twigs and branches of the Plains cottonwood trees. I checked the Black Cottonwood and the Narrow Leaf here in my city park and only the Plains had the star inside her twigs.

REDUCE COOLING BILL BY 20%

They can grow up to one-hundred-twenty feet tall with no branches until halfway up the height of the tree.

They can live to be over one hundred years, bringing shade from the sun longer than you will own your home.

Along river banks and waterways they act as a filtration system for reducing sediment while stabilizing banks, providing shade for the water and all that live under the surface.

DEAD TREES PROVIDE HOMES

Providing homes to more than half of the four-hundred-forty two species of birds that call Montana home: Red-Winged Black birds, Swanson's Hawk, Golden Eagle, woodpeckers, Loggerhead Shrike and the Great Horned Owl to name a few.

You will see trees that have long stopped producing leaves and seeds scattered across the Montana landscape.

The wigs, bark, cambium and leaves are food for insects, birds, beaver, rabbits, deer, elk, and Moose.

Dead branches and trees provide food for aquatic species. This debris also helps to trap sediment, encouraging reproduction of aquatic species, and altering the channel for the river or stream.

NEED 200 GALLONS OF WATER A DAY

Cottonwoods are living landmarks that signals where water is.

They are the easiest tree to propagate.

The seeds float through the air and on water looking for bare, moist soil with lots of sunshine to germinate and start to grow.

Though survival rate is low, once established they are one of the fastest growing averaging six feet per year.

REGENERATION NOT NORMAL IN PAST FEW DECADES

Some of the things that are threatening the cottonwood population around the United States include flood control, land conversion, livestock grazing and herbicide damage we also have issues with different invasive species of insects, natural disease and people choose not to replant cottonwoods due to the seed dispersal system utilized.

Herbicides used damage and slow the growth of cottonwood trees, crop dusting is the worst as the chemical drifts along the air current dusting trees in fields that were not intended to be sprayed.

Stopping the use of Herbicides in riparian forest areas is another way to help the regeneration of this critical tree. As one of the worlds best filtration system for pollution it is in all our best interest to protect, plant, support, and respect this natural resource that was slowing the progress of global warming until someone decided it was just too much of a nuisance to have around. Yes, I will continue to hate the cottonwood tree, but my attitude about it, and why it grows where it does has definitely changed.

The very thing that prevents me from breathing deeply for two short weeks out of the year is well worth the bother, because for the next thirty eight weeks I am granted clean, fresh, oxygen. What is it that they say, “Sometimes the cure is worse than what ails you.” I for one agree.

Wouldn’t you like to continue breathing clean, fresh air? Why not give the gift of clean air to your grandchildren, and many other generations to come by giving to:

AMERICAN FOREST: https://www.americanforests.org/ways-to-give/plant-trees/

US FOREST SERVICE AND US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: https://www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/donations

ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: https://shop.arborday.org/campaign/reforestation-donation/give

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: https://preserve.nature.org/page/80429/donate/1

(I do not make anything if you choose to contribute to any of the above organizations.)