Fremont Cottonwood, Western Cottonwood,         pop-U-lus free-MONT-e-i

• Broadleaf deciduous tree, fast growing to 40-60 ft (12-18 m), may reach 100 ft (30 m), broad, rounded or cylindrical crown, bark is smooth on the trunk and branches of young trees, but becomes deeply furrowed at maturity.  Leaves alternate, simple, broad oval-rounded to rhombic or triangular, 7-8 cm long, broader than long, short acuminate tip, base wedge-shaped to cordate, margin with course teeth, petiole yellow and flattened, upper leaf surface shiny yellow-green, sometimes pubescent beneath, may turn lemon-yellow in fall; in mild areas they may remain on the tree for much of the winter.  Dioecious - male and female plants.  Male flowers in catkins about 4-8 cm long, female catkins about 10-12 cm long, and produce cottony seeds which are considered a nuisance.
• Sun, prefers moist situations, tolerates inundation and siltation.  Avoid female trees.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5     Native range from western Texas west through New Mexico, Arizona, and California, northward into Nevada and Utah, and southward in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of Mexico, common at desert waterholes or along streams.
• fremontii: in honor of John Charles Frémont (1813-1880), solider, explorer and naturalist of the western U.S. He was the first botanists to collect in the Sierra Nevada. He was one of the fist two U.S. Senitors from California and was govenor of the Arizona Territory (1878-1882).