Rio Grande Cottonwood, Alamo Cottonwood, Alamillo,Populus deltoides subsp. Wislizeni,Willow Family (Salicaceae)

Found in moist areas, on river banks
Seen blooming in May in Abiquiú  

You have all seen the huge cottonwoods that grow along the ditches and the Rio Chama, and in its historic floodplain, but the flowers high above your head may not be so familiar. This is the red male flower, called a catkin, loaded with golden pollen. Male and female flowers grow on separate trees and emerge before the leaves. When the less conspicuous green female flower is pollinated the green seedpods hang like a small bunch of grapes before they explode and fill the air with cottony seeds. Cottonwoods can grow to 100 feet tall, more usually 50 feet, with leaning trunks up to 5 feet in diameter, wide-spreading branches and a leafy canopy. Mature trees have thick, deeply-furrowed, gray bark. Leaves are glossy green and triangular. They turn bright, golden yellow in the Fall. Native Americans used various parts of the tree; inner bark was often dried, ground into a powder and then used as a thickener in soups etc. or added to cereals when making bread, catkins are eaten raw, and the cotton and buds have been used by children as a chewing gum. The wood is used to make various items and for fuel. Source.

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