Family: Salicaceae, Willow view all from this family

Description Tree with narrow, conical crown of slender, upright branches and with resinous, balsam-scented buds.
Height: 50' (15 m).
Diameter: 1 1/2' (0.5 m).
Leaves: 2-5" (5-13 cm) long, 1/2-1" (1.2-2.5 cm) wide. Lance-shaped, long-pointed at tip, rounded at base; finely saw-toothed; hairless or nearly so, short-stalked. Shiny green above, paler beneath; turning dull yellow in autumn.
Bark: yellow-green, smooth; becoming gray-brown and furrowed into flat ridges at base.
Twigs: yellow-green, slender, hairless.
Flowers: catkins 1 1/2-3" (4-7.5 cm) long; reddish; male and female on separate trees; in early spring before leaves.
Fruit: about 1/4" (6 mm) long; broadly egg-shaped capsules, light brown, hairless; maturing in spring, splitting into 2 parts; many cottony seeds.

Habitat Moist soils along streams in mountains; with willows and alders in coniferous forests.

Range Mountains from s. Alberta and extreme sw. Saskatchewan south to Trans-Pecos Texas and California; also n. Mexico; at 3000-8000' (914-2438 m).

Discussion Discovered in 1805 by Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Northwest, this is the common cottonwood of the northern Rocky Mountains. It is easily distinguishable from related species by the narrow, short-stalked, willowlike leaves. Its root system makes it suitable for erosion control.