Populus fremontii – Fremont Cottonwood 5gallon

Fremont Cottonwood is the most commonly seen cottonwood species in Southern California and a large portion of the state overall. This stately tree is almost always found near some groundwater, usually stream and riverbeds. It does well in full sun areas, and as long as there is groundwater, will thrive in very hot conditions.

This is a large sized tree when mature, up to around 30ft around, and up to 100ft tall. The striking shiny green spade shaped leaves often flutter in the breeze, giving it a shimmering appearance from a distance. As a large and common tree species it has hundreds of different interactions with everything from pollinators and insect species to mammals and birds. Also, as with many large trees that disperse seeds by air, landscapers and urban planners often plant only males to avoid the fluffy masses of seeds produced by the female trees, which can be messy. This is a mistake however, as planting only male trees will result on huge dispersal of pollen with nothing to receive it. All this extra pollen from planting only male trees has caused some of our modern allergy problems.