Single Record

Species: Populus deltoides [Populus deltoides subsp. monilifera] [Populus deltoides subsp. wislizeni]

PhotoRecords: YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, Del Norte, 9th street and Spruce, 24 May 2020

Comments: Strangely this most widespread of native cottonwoods in the USA may be adventive to the Watershed. Cultivated trees and their seedlings can be found on private properties and in towns, for instance at the headquarters of a former cattle ranch in the Baca NWR, or in the lawn of an elementary school administrative building in Del Norte (also on the property of the Great Sand Dunes Oasis, Alamosa Co: see iNaturalist #118703367). These are P. deltoides subsp. monilifera, or Plains cottonwood. The other subspecies is P. deltoides subsp. wislizeni, which has not been recorded in the Watershed despite being called the Rio Grande cottonwood. In New Mexico, both subspecies are "Found throughout the state along nearly all river drainages"—including that of the Rio Grande. Its variations are a "quagmire" "capable of sinking even the most fervent and accomplished taxonomist" (Allred, et al., 2020, III, part 2, p. 731). It follows the Rio Grande to within 50 miles of the Gulf of Mexico.