Peuplier noir d'Amérique (Shrubs and Trees of Boisé du Tremblay)

Peuplier noir d'Amérique

Populus deltoides

Résumé ²

Vous pouvez partager vos connaissances en l’améliorant (comment ?) selon les recommandations des projets correspondants.

Description ³

Family:
Salicaceae (Willow)

Height:
80 to 120 feet at maturity

Habit:
Large tree that can have a single trunk or multiple, irregular crown. Branching begins high up on trunks.

Leaves:
Alternate, triangular leaves with coarsely-toothed edges up to 4 inches long and 4.5 inches wide. Waxy appearance on both sides of leaves. Leafstalks are flat.

Bark:
Mature bark is gray and deeply furrowed, while young twigs are smooth and green, turning yellow.

Flower:
Catkins up to 4.5" long

Fruit:
Green ovate capsules held in a dangling cluster. Capsules split when ripe to release cottony seeds.

Bloom time:
April-May

Fall color:
Yellow

Nicknames:
Cottonwood, Plains Cottonwood

Habitat:
Floodplains, riverbanks, bottomland forests

Wildlife Benefits:
Leaves are a food source for several types of caterpillar.

Notes:
Eastern cottonwood is a common tree in floodplain forests or near lakes and streams, growing to impressive sizes. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree that requires a large site to accommodate its future size.

References:
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/tree/plains-cottonwood
https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/cottonwood.htm

Ecological Information ⁴

Cottonwoods prefer wet soils along streams or near lakes in deserts, grasslands and woodlands at elevations up to 6500 feet. The Rio Grande Bosque is the home of the Rio Grande cottonwood. It requires flooding to grow it's seed. The Bosque has not had a natural flood since the 1940s. There are many old trees but few young ones. Cottonwood has to compete against non-native and invasive Russian olive and salt cedar. Cottonwood is stronger than salt cedar and Russian olive if flooding occurs. Cottonwood also provides shelter and food for animals.

Ethnobotanical Information ⁴

Cottonwood has many medicinal uses. You can collect leaf buds in early spring, leaves in midsummer, and bark in late fall or spring. Cottonwoods are useful whenever aspirin may be used because it contains salicin, which is used to treat fevers and urinary infections. The bark makes digestive bitters used for indigestion, poor appetite and fevers. The leaf buds are used for muscle aches, sprains, and joint pain. You can prepare leaf buds in oil or alcohol and also use them for injuries, burns and thick mucus. Native Americans used the leaves for toothaches and cuts and scrapes.

Cottonwood is also used for making many things. Roof support beams were made out of cottonwood trunks and branches. Cottonwood is related to aspens and both are used for drums because they rot in the middle and they sound good. The biggest drums are made of cottonwood trunks. Boats and rafts can be made out of cottonwood. The roots were used for kachinas. Catkins are the flowers on cottonwood and are eaten as a vegetable. The bark was used for firing pots. (Note: Ethnographic reports often lack important contextual information and relevant traditional ecological knowledge.)

Sources and Credits

(c) JanetandPhil, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/30979614@N07/3583262655
Adapted by Jean Francois Noulin from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus_deltoides
(c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/1425372
(c) smiller33, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/354910

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