Plants

Black Cottonwood

by keco86

Scientific name: Populus balsamifera ssp.

French: peuplier

Secwepemc name: mulc (pronounced muoolucw)
with the ‘c’ making the typical ‘cw’ sound that is often left out and misprounounced as at the end of kukwstsetsemc

Folk Lore:

This tree figures largely in our local landscape it is widespread and extremely common; you already know this plant even if you don’t know its name because of its impact in our everyday lives.

If you’ve walked along a riverside trail in the springtime you’ve likely gone home with sticky little shells all over the bottoms of your shoes; they are cottonwood buds.

Or later in the spring you’ve probably seen little white tufts of fluff floating all over the place, gathering along the edges of trails and filling the curbs; its cottonwood seeds that have been released from the trees fruiting body and where this tree gets its name.

Significance to People

Cottonwood is native to BC and pre-colonization many parts of it were used for everyday life.

The cambium layer was sometimes eaten in spring when food sources were scarce but it was not a staple.

The inner bark was used to make soap and as a medicinal tea to reduce fevers, pain and inflammation.

The sticky buds contain the same healing & pain relieving compounds and are still commonly gathered and processed today. It was also used as a rudimentary glue.

The fluff was gathered and used as stuffing.

Mature trees were felled to make dugout canoes; an example of one can be viewed in the Kamloops Museum.

Significance to Ecosystems

Cottonwood is an integral part of riparian ecosystems providing bank stabilization and shade.

A large deciduous tree that sheds its leaves means it contributes to soil creation and is an integral part of decomposition cycle.

It is a short lived tree with high branch breakage that also contributes to forest litter

Significance to Animals

Mature trees provide food and habitat for woodpeckers who can often be found eating and nesting on its trunks.

Its roots can be nurseries for fish and its shade helps keep temperatures low and fallen leaves become food for young salmon and trout.

Twigs and buds are food and medicine for hooved animals and beavers eat the inner bark as well as use young twigs and shoots in their dams

Where to find them:

Cottonwood is a prolific tree that readily grows along moist lowlands such as riverbanks, lakeshores, along creek beds and in swamps and river basins. It is flood tolerant meaning it can withstand periods of standing water and is extremely frost resistant.

There are many young and old cottonwoods along the Schubert section of Rivers Trail, along the river everywhere really, in Peterson Creek, and in Pine Park along Tranquille creek. This tree truly is everywhere in the lowlands of our ecosystem and can be found at higher elevations where water collects underground. It is an excellent indicator of ground water.

Fernie, BC is home to an ancient cottonwood forest where you can truly appreciate the size of these gentle giants.

  • The deeply grooved bark of a mature cottonwood tree
  • Early cottonwood catkins. These are the flowers of this plant
  • Mature catkins releasing their seeds.
  • Leaves of a black cottonwood. The edges are sometimes smooth sometimes serrated but always ovate bordering on heart shaped.
  • Common coloration that can be observed on a cottonwood

Identification

You will know this tree as being the largest deciduous tree in our ecosystem. It can grow up to 40 m tall and be wider around than you can reach. Once the tree is mature its bark is deeply grooved and grey.
When it is younger it is white with many small black or yellow openings called stomata giving it a textured appearance. These are how the tree breaths when it is water logged.

It is often confused with Balsam Popular as it is hard to distinguish between the two. Poplular grows at higher elevations and has a different fruiting body.

Modern Cultivation and Usage:

Today cottonwood is cultivated commercially for sawn lumber, veneer and to make high-grade paper.
It is light coloured and called a soft hardwood because it is quite weak in bending but at the same time is strong and smooth. It is used mainly for small furniture production and is prone to ‘fuzzing’ when finishing.
It is an extremely fast growing tree (up to 2m per year) with a relatively short life span of 60-80 years, rarely exceeding 200 years.

Harvesting for personal use

If you are interested in making cottonwood bud oil there are many articles on the internet to guide your journey.

It is important to consider that the buds when taken off the branch are the lifeforce of the tree. Every bud is where the new leaves will emerge from and branches stripped of buds will die.

One way you can maintain an ethical and reciprocal harvest is to harvest only from downed branches.
Winter often knocks branches off these trees and it is relatively easy to find one or two that you can strip guilt free :)

I’d love to hear about your experiences with this plant.
Visit my Instagram page and look for my post about working with this plant and share your experiences with me.

To learn more about what lives in your local ecosystem join my Thompson Bird Lovers email list where I write about a commonly found local bird each week.

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References:

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