There was so much Eastern Cotton fluff, it was easy to scoop up a handful off the ground. A single mature Populus deltoides can produce an estimated 40 million seeds in a season. The seed is inside the dried fruit or achene attached to cotton-like filaments that help transport it through the air.
Here’s my attempt to photograph the stuff in the air at Bush Terminal Park recently. Cottonwood time is a virtual snow storm.
And looking the other way: a thicket of the fast-growing saplings beyond the fence.
Cottonwood Air
Published June 10, 2019 Fieldnotes 4 CommentsTags: Brooklyn, Bush Terminal Park, plants, trees
Backyard and Beyond 
Heavy seed production up here at NYBG. Thanks!
You are Brooklyn’s great nature photographer.
Not sure I can claim that title, but thank you so much for the compliment!
It’s the state tree out here!