P. fremontii is a large tree growing from in height with a wide crown, with a trunk up to in diameter. The
bark is smooth when young, becoming deeply fissured with whitish, cracked bark on old trees. The long
leaves, are
cordate (heart-shaped) with an elongated tip, with white veins and coarse
crenate teeth along the sides, glabrous to hairy, and often stained with milky resin. The
inflorescence consists of a long, drooping
catkin, which blooms from March to April. The
fruit is a
wind-dispersed achene, that appears to look like patches of
cotton hanging from limbs, thus the name cottonwood. The largest known
P. fremontii tree in the United States grows in Skull Valley, Arizona. In 2012, it had a measured circumference of , height of , and a spread of .
Subspecies or varieties Two subspecies are currently recognized. Some confusion due to hybridization with a Rio Grande subspecies of
Populus deltoides subsp. wislizeni had originally placed this
eastern cottonwood subspecies as a
P. fremontii subspecies, but it was removed in 1977. •
P. f. subsp.
fremontii, with synonyms
P. f. var.
arizonica -
Sarg. and
P. f. var.
macdougalii - (
Rose)
Jeps. from California and west of the
Continental Divide •
P. f. subsp.
mesetae - Eckenwal., of arid areas of Mexico and west Texas, and widely planted elsewhere, generally east of the Continental Divide ==Uses==