Habitat

 

native range of the eastern cottonwood

 

    The eastern cottonwood tree, as expected from its common   name, is a native to eastern North America.  Generally, it is found from Alberta east to Quebec and south to Texas, Florida, and northern Mexico.  It is absent from the higher Appalachian areas and from much of Florida and the Gulf Coast except along rivers.  As it has expanded from its native range, overall, the cottonwood tree occurs in over half of the United States. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mississippi River

 

The eastern cottonwood's habitat consists mainly of rich, moist soils, primarily located along riverbanks and streams.  They often appear as a dominant or co-dominant element of floodplain and bottomland hardwood forests.  In the eastern United States, it is an essential species in riverfront forests.  Clearly, the cottonwood is an organism that likes to "keep its feet wet"

 

 

 

 

 

 

pussy willow (Salix discolor)white ash (Fraxinus americana)balsam poplar (Populus balsimifera)swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor)winged burning bush (Euonymus alatus)

 

 

This habitat is home to a variety of other organisms as well, some of which include many other tree and plant species.  A few other tree species include the swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), white ash (Fraxinus americana), pussy willow (Salix discolor), and balsam poplar (Populus balsimifera).  Some frequently affiliated shrubs with the eastern cottonwood are winged burning bush (Euonymus alatus), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), and sand sage brush (Artemisia filifolia).

 

 

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