Way Up Yonder!! Cottonwood

On the west side of Orchard St. across from Grandview St. is a Cottonwood tree (populus deltoides) that is well over 100 feet tall.

*This is on private property and we ask that you respect the owners and not trespass, but enjoy this tree from the public sidewalk*

Before European settlement these trees, which grew along riverbanks in the prairie lands, got so big that the hollow ones were used as shelters! These trees can get huge. I saw the state champion many years ago. The base seemed to be 10 feet across. The cottony seeds of the female can be quite a nuisance in late June. The branchwood is so soft that it is a wonder to me that they stand up at all. Like willows, their flexibility is their secret. After storms the ground underneath these trees is often littered with smaller broken branches. The main branches and trunk are strong, due to their great mass. Notice how the tree has been pruned away from the electric wires.