Participant Info

Species

Populus angustifolia

Family

Salicaceae

CommonName

narrowleaf cottonwood

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1924

LatestDate

2020

Ecosystem

basin, foothill, montane, ruderal, urban

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos, UBasin, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, Archuleta

Passes

Cumbres, Spring Creek

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Coller, Great Sand Dunes, Mountain Home Reservoir, Rio Grande

Other Localities

Alamosa (town), La Botica, Del Norte

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande, town of Del Norte near Rio Grande 10 July 2020

Comments

On both sides of the Valley, narrowleaf cottonwood follows rivers and creeks from the montane down into the Basin, so common that collectors probably often disregard it. It can be recognized by its lanceolate leaves ("narrow-leaf") with crenate or serrate margins and petioles short in relation to the leaf length. In the fall, the leaves turn a yellow that almost out-brighten those of P. tremuloides. Populus angustifolia is primarily an Intermountain and Rocky Mountain species that follows the Rio Grande drainage a little past Big Bend, Texas.

Annotation