Home
Advanced Search Map Locator
View Settings
Nurseries Carrying this Plant Add Current Plant To List Edit Current Plant
Show all Photos

About Calscape Nurseries
California Garden Planner Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW) Planting Guide
Butterflies My Plant Lists
Contact Calscape
Tap map to see plants native to location
Order by Popularity Order by Common Name Order by Scientific Name Order by # of Butterflies Hosted
Show nursery cultivars Hide nursery cultivars
Show plants not in nurseries Hide plants not in nurseries
Grid view Text view
Loading....
Black Cottonwood
Populus trichocarpa
  
About Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) 19 Nurseries Carry This Plant Black Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa) is a native tree that grows in northern, southern and central California. It is fast growing and moderately long-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 100 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are yellow and bloom in the mid spring. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in alluvial bottomplands and streamsides, at elevations from 0-9000 feet. Tough and easy to grow as long as it is in sun, near a water sources and has very good drainage. Black Cottonwood is a great choice to help build a natural irrigation system - its long shallow roots will reach out to the water source and pull underground water molecules through your garden. It needs moist soil until mature, and then becomes moderately drought tolerant.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Tree

Size
Size
30 - 100 ft tall
25 - 30 ft wide

Form
Form
Upright, Upright Columnar

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Fast

Dormancy
Dormancy
Winter Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
Green, Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Winter, Spring

Wildlife Supported
 
Great bird and butterfly plant

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Moderate - High

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Very Easy

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast

Soil Description
Soil Description
Well draining

Common uses
Common uses
Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: No treatment. Use fresh seeds, usually viable only a few days. Seeds should not be covered or pressed into medium; seedbed should be kept saturated for first mo. Easily propagated from stem cuttings.

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
1, 2*, 3*, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7*, 8, 9, 14, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24*

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Alluvial bottomplands, streamsides

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 5.4" - 117.1", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 3.57", Coldest Month: 17.9" - 56.5", Hottest Month: 38.4" - 79.4", Humidity: 0.23" - 28.34", Elevation: -228" - 14460"

Alternative Names
Botanical Names: Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa,Populus balsamifera
Common Names: Balsam Poplar


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


Sign in to your Calscape Account X




Once signed in, you'll be able to access any previously saved plant lists or create new ones.

Email Address
Password

Sign In