Index / Search / Populus heterophylla

§1 Plant

Populus heterophylla L.

vernacular swamp cottonwood — species · Salicaceae


USDA
POHE4
GBIF
3040239
Rank
species
swamp cottonwood (Populus heterophylla)
Platephotograph · David WeisenbeckCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Salicaceae Mirb.
Genus
Populus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 276 counties across 20 states/territories
Legend Native · 276 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-23 °F minimum
Frost-free days
180 min.
Precipitation
35–60 in/yr
pH range
4.6–5.9
Root depth
24 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
100 ft
Height @ 20 y
50 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
White
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
152,000
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Fuelwood
Low
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 276 counties across 20 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 3 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 20 N
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N
Florida view state ↗ 5 N
Georgia view state ↗ 3 N
Illinois view state ↗ 24 N
Indiana view state ↗ 34 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 25 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 11 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 1 N
Michigan view state ↗ 5 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 10 N
Missouri view state ↗ 14 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 11 N
New York view state ↗ 8 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 24 N
Ohio view state ↗ 22 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 16 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 12 N
Virginia view state ↗ 27 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/POHE4 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3040239 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z