Swamp Cottonwood is the least common and least-known of the eastern cottonwoods, restricted to swamps, sloughs, and bottomland forests that flood for extended periods each year. Its leaves are distinctive among cottonwoods, being quite rounded and woolly-white on the underside when young. It ranges across the lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coastal Plain, where its bottomland forest habitat has been greatly reduced by drainage and conversion. It is an important mast tree for wood ducks and other wetland wildlife.
Best time to see a Swamp Cottonwood
The best time to see a Swamp Cottonwood is April–August, when about 63% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 625 research-grade iNaturalist observations.
Not certain it is a Swamp Cottonwood? What plant is this? walks through what to check first and the lookalikes that catch people out.
Recent Swamp Cottonwood sightings near you
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