''Populus angustifolia'', commonly known as the narrowleaf cottonwood, is a species of tree in the willow family (

Salicaceae The Salicaceae are the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') includes the willows, poplars. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly expanded the circumsc ...

). It is native to western North America, where it is a characteristic species of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

and the surrounding plains.''Populus angustifolia''
Flora of North America It ranges north to the provinces of

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and south to the states of Chihuahua,

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

, and

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Its natural habitat is by streams and creeks between elevation.

Description

The tree is slim in profile, and can grow in tightly packed clusters.''Populus angustifolia''
Southwest Colorado Wildflowers Its leaves are yellow-green, lanceolate (lance-shaped), and with scalloped margins. It produces catkins in the early spring. The fruiting capsules are fluffy and white. Image:Populus_angustifolia.jpg, Old catkins and emerging spring leaves

Taxonomy

Where their ranges come into contact, this species will readily hybridize with '' Populus balsamifera'', '' Populus deltoides'', '' Populus fremontii'', and '' Populus trichocarpa''. These hybrids can form extensive populations in some regions. Due to the frequency and morphological consistency of ''P. angustifolia'' × ''P. deltoides'' hybrids, they were initially described as a fully separate species ("'' P. acuminata''") until its hybrid origin was firmly established in the 1980s.

Uses

The buds are sticky and gummy and were enjoyed as a sort of

chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...

by local Native American peoples, including the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

and

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

. The tree is the host species of the sugarbeet root aphid (''Pemphigus betae'').

References

External links

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US Forest Service Fire EcologyPhoto gallery at CalPhotos
angustifolia Trees of the Great Basin Trees of Northern America Trees of Alberta Flora of the California desert regions Flora of New Mexico Flora of the Rocky Mountains Flora without expected TNC conservation status Taxa named by Edwin James Plants described in 1822 {{Salicaceae-stub