# Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa)

> Black cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa: its height and zones, when it flowers and fruits, how fast it grows, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/black-cottonwood/

![Broad, pointed black cottonwood leaves on long stalks along pale twigs, in dappled light](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/black-cottonwood-1000.jpg?v=1c87768b "Black cottonwood beside Lee Vining Creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California, in July 2009. It commonly lives 100 to 200 years.")
*Photo: Daniel Mayer, [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMono_Lake_-_Populus_trichocarpa_next_to_Lee_Vinning_Creek_-_branch_and_leaves.JPG))*

Large tree, 80 to 150 feet where planted, zones 4 to 9; full sun; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow black cottonwood, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Black Cottonwood |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Balsam cottonwood, western balsam poplar, California poplar |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 80 to 150 where planted; the tallest over 200 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 30 |
| Zones | 4 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Flowers | March to June |
| Fruit | Capsules, May to July |
| First crop | 7 to 10 years |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Black cottonwoods are male or female trees, so a female bears seed only with a male nearby. |
| Lifespan | Can live 200 years or more. |
| Planting season | Spring. Silvics plants cuttings in spring, and the NRCS plant guide sets seedlings out in late summer or the following spring. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Floodplain forests and stream banks |
| Native in | 10 states |

Black cottonwood is native in 10 states: [Alaska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AK), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Fire Effects Information System.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=black-cottonwood): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=black-cottonwood:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus americana*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares floodplain forests and stream banks in the wild.
- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares floodplain forests and stream banks in the wild.
- [Balsam Poplar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/balsam-poplar/index.html.md) (*Populus balsamifera*): large tree, 30 to 100 feet, zones 2 to 5. Shares floodplain forests and stream banks in the wild.
- [Slippery Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/slippery-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus rubra*): medium tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares floodplain forests and stream banks in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares floodplain forests and stream banks in the wild.
- [Bur Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bur-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus macrocarpa*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares floodplain forests in the wild.
- [Every companion of black cottonwood in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=black-cottonwood)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Cal Poly's SelecTree, the Wildflower Center and Calscape.