# Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)

> Eastern cottonwood, Populus deltoides: a large tree of 50 to 100 feet for zones 2 to 9, when it flowers and fruits, 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/eastern-cottonwood/

![Triangular, coarsely toothed eastern cottonwood leaves on long stalks against a clear blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/eastern-cottonwood-1000.jpg?v=02af8082 "Eastern cottonwood leaves in Belmont Park, Montreal, Quebec, on July 29, 2015. The tree flowers before its leaves come out and sheds its seed from May into July.")
*Photo: Laurent Bélanger, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APeuplier_delto%C3%AFde_feuillage.jpg))*

Large tree, 50 to 100 feet, zones 2 to 9; full sun; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow eastern 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 | Eastern Cottonwood |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Necklace poplar, eastern poplar, southern cottonwood, common cottonwood |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 100 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 75 |
| Zones | 2 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Wildlife value, salt tolerant, erosion control |
| Flowers | February to May |
| Fruit | Capsules, May to August |
| First crop | 5 to 10 years |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Male and female flowers grow on separate trees, so a female tree bears seed only with a male nearby. |
| Lifespan | Lives up to 200 years, and the oldest dated one reached 116. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on eastern cottonwood says: "Eastern cottonwoods transplant easily, prefer wet soils in full sun, and is adaptable to various soil pH." |
| Planting season | Spring. Its sources speak of planting cuttings, and Silvics of the short planting season in the North. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 43 states and the District of Columbia |

Eastern cottonwood is native in 43 states and the District of Columbia: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI), [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=eastern-cottonwood): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=eastern-cottonwood): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=eastern-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=eastern-cottonwood): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=eastern-cottonwood): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=eastern-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=eastern-cottonwood): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=eastern-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=eastern-cottonwood): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=eastern-cottonwood): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=eastern-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 stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Pin Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pin-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus palustris*): large tree, 50 to 70 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Willow Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/willow-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus phellos*): large tree, 40 to 75 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp Cottonwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-cottonwood/index.html.md) (*Populus heterophylla*): large tree, 70 to 90 feet, zones 6 to 9. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats 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 stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp Tupelo](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-tupelo/index.html.md) (*Nyssa biflora*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 6 to 9. Shares stream banks, floodplain forests, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of eastern cottonwood in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=eastern-cottonwood)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, Iowa State University Extension, the USDA PLANTS Database, the US Forest Service and the Eastern Native Tree Society.