What are these white cotton like trees that are blooming all over seattle?

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by rjshae

Today's fun fact: a single cottonwood tree can release up to 25 million seeds.

I'm sure that makes them very poplar here.

...

Pun intended. ;-)

That’s amazing. Shae, I’ve been pining for more of your puns!

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

When were cottonwoods planted in Seattle? I don't remember encountering that, when I lived there. Whose bright idea was that? There are cottonless cottonwoods, you know; a hybridized variety to avoid the issues all that cotton fallout causes.

Wind carries those seeds a long way, they may not have been planted in Seattle. I remember in the 1990s when someone though to get rich selling the wood for paper, 3and you can still see the forest of them in the Woodinville/Duvall area, between the two bridges over the Snoqualmie River. Unfortunately then the internet became normal, and email replaced mail, so the need for more paper dried up. Before that, in that area (late 1970's) and others like North Bend, the University of Washington was planting them, in experiments for producing "bio-mass."



https://books.google.com/books?id=j9...forest&f=false

[rjshae]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

That’s amazing. Shae, I’ve been pining for more of your puns!

I'll have to branch out some more...

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by rjshae

I'll have to branch out some more...

[CARas2020]

Originally Posted by rjshae

The cotton seeds don't impact allergies, but the pollen certainly does.

Cottonwood tree Allergen Facts

It affects my husband and daughter. Luckily I am on two big does of antihistamine so none of my allergies are bothering me.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Wind carries those seeds a long way, they may not have been planted in Seattle. I remember in the 1990s when someone though to get rich selling the wood for paper, 3and you can still see the forest of them in the Woodinville/Duvall area, between the two bridges over the Snoqualmie River. Unfortunately then the internet became normal, and email replaced mail, so the need for more paper dried up. Before that, in that area (late 1970's) and others like North Bend, the University of Washington was planting them, in experiments for producing "bio-mass."



https://books.google.com/books?id=j9...forest&f=false

They consume a high amount of groundwater. Not a good thing to have taking over an area as the regional climate dries up.

[leastprime]

They are Oregon refugees.

[grega94]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

They consume a high amount of groundwater. Not a good thing to have taking over an area as the regional climate dries up.

They are not invasive, they are native trees. Here is the natural range of the black cottonwood.

[ScottStielow]

I use to get allergies when i was younger, spring into summer time.
Rolling around in the grass use to really get me sneezing from Allergies.