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
4 responses to “Cottonwood Air”
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Heavy seed production up here at NYBG. Thanks!
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You are Brooklyn’s great nature photographer.
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Not sure I can claim that title, but thank you so much for the compliment!
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It’s the state tree out here!
Backyard and Beyond 
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