What's blooming right now? (Cottonwood: home, neighborhood, school)

[TurquoiseSky]

Specifically, these large white things floating through the air that look like cotton. Anyone know?

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

I thought those were dandilions (or "wishers", as my kids call them).

[mr roboto]

Cotton wood trees?

[wamer27]

Gotta be cottonwood trees, they are horrible, hopefully some disease infects all of them.

[Min-Chi-Cbus]

That's extreme. There's a remedy called Claritin that you can use in lieu of massacring tens of thousands of trees.

[Glenfield]

That is the seed of the cottonwood tree which has a storied history in this part of the country and is a candidate for our National Tree. I hope that the wish that they would all become diseased was hyperbolic.

https://www.arborday.org/programs/na...cottonwood.cfm

If someone suffers from seasonal allergies to tree pollen, as I do, cottonwoods are unlikely to be the only culprit. Take a Claritin.

[TheGrandViking]

I have 6 giants cottonwoods around my neighborhood. In late May and early June it seems like it is snowing. I enjoy that however It means I have to clean the air conditioning grill. They are majestic trees. However, the biggest problem with the tree is that the massive limbs go out at different angles and they break off. There is one so large next to my child's school that it would take 4 people holding hands to get their arms around the tree.

Some cities have banned the tress because of the breakage problem and it is labelled as a nuisance tree. My neighbor told me it would cost 10k to remove the tree. Ouch!

[cathedralhill1]

The Cottonwood fluff you see flying around is the seeds, not the pollen, so if your allergies are being triggered now, Cottonwood is not the culprit since they're done pollinating. Maybe not the greatest ornamental tree for residential areas, but they do have their place in the the Mississippi ecosystem, as this info from the National Park Service points out:



The cottonwood tree is a floodplain forest foundation species, meaning that it is a species that creates stable conditions for other species. It is one of the first to grow in recently flooded areas, which has the effect of stabilizing dynamic river channels by reducing erosion and creating suitable habitat for other vegetation. As cottonwoods grow, sometimes as high as 100 feet, they shield the area around them from sunlight, enabling the establishment of trees that require shadier conditions. Over time, cottonwood trees turn sandbars into mature floodplain forest habitat that can support a large variety of species.

Many birds and other land animals rely on cottonwood trees and the habitat they create. For example, they are the preferred nesting trees for bald eagles because they require large branches to support their large nests. These birds also require perches with a high vantage point so they can scan larger portions of the river for prey. Bees also rely on cottonwoods because they use the antimicrobial properties of cottonwood resin to make bees in their hive less susceptible to disease.

Cottonwood trees also improve aquatic habitat. In time, cottonwood trees will provide shelter for fish. When cottonwoods grow near a river channel, the river erodes the banks around them until the tree is left on unstable footing. When it falls into the river, the branches, which previously would have been home to terrestrial birds and insects, will shelter aquatic invertebrates and fish. The branches in the river also help to improve water clarity by acting as a filter to remove soil and dirt sediment in the water.

[wamer27]

With my own lawn service, cutting lawns full of cotton is not fun. You are forced to inhale/ breath cotton unless you wear a mask. This is my personal hatred of this tree. It ranks up there with buckthorn and Russian olive trees. The Russian olive tree is banned in many states for great reasons.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by wamer27

With my own lawn service, cutting lawns full of cotton is not fun. You are forced to inhale/ breath cotton unless you wear a mask. This is my personal hatred of this tree. It ranks up there with buckthorn and Russian olive trees. The Russian olive tree is banned in many states for great reasons.

So you know the answer to your problem but choose not to avail yourself of it. Poor baby.