cottonwood

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COTTONWOOD

Populus spp.

the genus Populus (IN THE USA) with common names
including aspen and poplar (cottonwood)

Populus spp. of the family Salicaceae.

A note on the confusion among the names "cottonwood" / "poplar" / "tulip poplar" / "yellow poplar" / "American tulip"
When people in the USA say "poplar" they PROBABLY mean "tulip poplar" / "yellow poplar" which is NOT actually poplar at all even though the common name designates it as poplar. True poplar (what should, to avoid confusion, be called cottonwood) is Populus spp. of the family Salicaceae) but some people DO call cottonwood by the name "poplar" despite the confusion so it is sometimes hard to tell which one a person is talking about, especially since some people are not aware of the confusion.

"Tulip poplar", "yellow poplar", and "American tulip" are all names for Liriodendron tulipifera of the family Magnoliaceae. "yellow poplar" and "tulip poplar" are most the most commonly used names for Liriodendron tulipifera in the USA, AFTER the use of "poplar" itself, which is the MOST common designation for Liriodendron tulipifera even though, strictly speaking, that's the wrong designation. On this site, I list Liriodendron tulipifera as "poplar", following common useage, and I list the ACTUAL poplar as "cottonwood"

I personally think that the most logical thing to do would be to call Populus spp. "poplar" and Liriodendron tulipifera "tulip/tulipwood" (or "American tulip" to avoid confusion with Brazilian tulipwood) but as always, I don't get to make the rules, I just try to report on reality as accurately as I can.

To add to the confusion, one of the USA common names for Liriodendron tulipifera is "basswood" but the name "basswood" in the USA more commonly refers to Tilia spp. (which is also called "lime" and "lindon"). FURTHER, another USA common name for Liriodendron tulipifera is canary/canarywood, but those names more often refer, in the USA, to the South American wood Centrolobium spp.). Then just to make it all more interesting, many of the Populus species that are the wood normally called "aspen" ALL also have the names poplar and/or cottonwood or both as part of one or more of their other common names.

I COULD continue this trail of confusion until you felt that your eyeballs had been twisted into a knot, but I will spare you. This is the joy of common wood names.

In addition to the confusion among names, the woods called cottonwood and the woods called poplar, even though totally unrelated (other than both being woods) are often very hard to tell apart, even including the end grain.

This plentiful and inexpensive common hardwood is very light and easy to work, with an even texture, but surface requires very sharp tools to avoid a fuzzy/wooly texture and staining can be very blotchy (the end grain will suck up stain like a madman sucking on a straw) although it takes paint very well.

A note about Populus alba: although Populus alba has been given more names containing the word poplar (black poplar, bolleana poplar, English/European poplar, Lombardy poplar, silver poplar, silver leaf poplar, white poplar) than it has names containing the word aspen (aspen, great aspen, white aspen), AND it is most commonly sold as white poplar, it is none the less genetically closer to the aspens so it is shown on this site on the aspen page.

A note about Lombardy poplar: Lombardy poplar is a cultivar of Populus nigra and technically it should be designated as "Poplus nigra cult. Italica" It was first grown in the Lombardy region of Italy, thus the name. Poplulus nigra itself is NOT Lombardy poplar, but because few lumber vendors (if any) are that technically correct or specific in naming conventions, it is sold as Lombardy poplar. I have also seen Populus alba and Populus robusta called Lombardy poplar but both are incorrect.

Lombardy poplar on this page: with the single exception of my sample that is specifically labeled as cultivar Italica, it is almost certain that none of the "Lombardy poplar" pieces shown on this page are actually Lombardy poplar but rather are plain black poplar

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions

both sides of a sample plank of Eastern cottonwood / Populus deltoides

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Eastern cottonwood / Populus deltoides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

first face and the end grain of a sample of cottonwood / Populus deltoides. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION A

the second face, before and after sanding, showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.

both sides of a sample plank of curly Eastern cottonwood / Populus deltoides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The curl is slightly weak, but very clear in the pics and slightly more so in the piece itself and obviously, there is some very nice black-line spalting.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above plus a closeup of one of the heavily spalted areas on the face grain.

both sides of a sample plank of quilted Eastern cottonwood / Populus deltoides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. It is perhaps arguable whether the figure on this sample is quilted or curly, but whatever you want to call it, it is a nice strong figure.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above; the end grain closeup pic has a bit too much red/orange

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above; the end grain closeup pic has a bit too much red/orange

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of figured Eastern cottonwood / Populus deltoides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of angel step Eastern cottonwood / Populus deltoides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The angel step figure is very light but it is there.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Fremont poplar (aka Fremont cottonwood) / Populus fremontii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Fremont cottonwood (Fremont poplar) / Populus fremontii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

Fremont cottonwood / Populus fremontii pieces contributed to the site by Mark Peet. The first pic show all 4 pieces and to the right of that is both sides of the two small pieces. The larger pieces are shown in the two full sets of pics following this. HUGE enlargements are present

both sides of a sample plank of Fremont cottonwood / Populus fremontii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of lightly spalted, quartersawn Fremont cottonwood / Populus fremontii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Lombardy poplar / Populus nigra

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- the end grain closeup on this one is pretty useless. The end had been crushed by the saw and I sanded it down but clearly not quite enough and anyway, there's really no grain to be seen anyway. Also, the color is too white. LATER NOTE: OK, my comment that there is "really no grain to be seen" was stupid, as is evidenced by the end grain update directly below.

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Lombardy poplar / Populus nigra --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Lombardy poplar / Populus nigra --- HUGE enlargements are present

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- clearly the saw was not terribly sharp and this is a soft wood so the end is just crushed, not sliced.

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Lombardy poplar / Populus nigra --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of European black poplar / Populus nigra --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Mike Stafford whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Mike put this up on Wood Barter as a guessing game (LINK) to see if anyone could ID it. His pic was somewhat misleading and I would NEVER have guessed that it was Populus spp. because of the extreme mottle shown in his pic, here:

As you can see from my pics, it has a very nice curl but nothing as strong as what his pic shows (although to be fair, he wet it and took the pic at an angle and I did neither). When seen from the side, as his pic does, the curl looks like a mottle. This piece weighs 32lbs/cuft and although Populus generally runs a bit lighter than that, it's reasonable. In the linked thread we concluded at first that it was Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra cultivar Italica) but lated decided that it was not the cultivar, it was just mistakenly using that name when sold to Mike.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides and both ends of a sample piece --- pics should have just a touch more yellow

end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- pic should have just a touch more yellow

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

sample plank and end grain listed as black cottonwood / Populus trichocarpa --- pics should have just a touch more yellow

end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- pic should have just a touch more yellow

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of black cottonwood / Populus trichocarpa --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of black cottonwood / Populus trichocarpa --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of black cottonwood / Populus trichocarpa --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above. NOTE: the pink on the end is NOT wood color, it is an artifact of the red sanding paper used on the end grain.

both sides of a sample plank of balsam poplar / Populus balsamifera --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- the left side of this update is really crappy, but the middle and right show the fine grain detail very clearly so I decided not to redo the work.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

first face and the end grain of a sample of balsam poplar / Populus balsamifera. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION B. My guess is that this sample and the slightly shorter one directly below were cut from the same plank.

the second face, before and after slicing off 1/8" showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.

first face and the end grain of a sample of balsam poplar / Populus balsamifera. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION B. My guess is that this sample and the slightly longer one directly above were cut from the same plank.

the second face, before and after slicing off 1/8" showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.

first face and the end grain of a sample of "poplar". This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION B. I believe that the "poplar" designation properly identifies this as Populus spp., which on this site puts it here on this cottonwood page.

the second face, before and after slicing off 1/8" showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.

first face and the end grain of a sample of balm of Gilead / Populus spp. --- This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION G. Based on the name, this is almost certainly Populus balsamifera.

the second face, before and after sanding it down a bit, showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of swamp cottonwood / Populus heterophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of swamp cottonwood / Populus heterophylla --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of narrowleaf cottonwood / Populus angustifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of cottonwood (Gurney's hybrid poplar) / Populus hybrida --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of angel step cottonwood / Populus spp.--- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The angel step figure is slightly more pronounced in the actual wood than what shows in these pics.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

plank

plank and closeup

two contiguous edges of a cottonwood (not tulip) poplar plank that was cut from one of the larger ones above and then sanded for these pics. The slightly lighter color of the wood in these pics is due to better color correction --- these are more accurate that the pics of the intact planks above.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

all 6 faces of each of 3 bowl blanks made from a large slab sold to me as just cottonwood. In each of the pairs, the second pic shows a face that was exposed to light and air for about 10 years; the first face was not exposed. HUGE enlargements are present.

The Wood Book pics

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera, also listed as tacamahac) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
big cottonwood (Populus deltoides, also listed as necklace poplar and just plain "cottonwood") from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
Lombardy poplar (listed as Populus dilatata which The Plant List says is an unresolved name) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
swamp poplar (Populus heterophylla, also listed as downy poplar and river cottonwood) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii, also listed as white cottonwood) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

web pics:

plank listed as European poplar / populus spp. and with wet and dry sections

planks

plank with a color that I do not find believable

plaques

slabs

crotch slab and figured slab

planks with the face grain moistened for the pic; the end grain shows the true color which is an off-white

California cottonwood / Populus fremontii planks --- HUGE enlargements are present.

black poplar (Populus trichocarpa) end grain

both sides and a closeup of a plank of black poplar / Populus trichocarpa

both sides of a plank of black poplar / Populus trichocarpa

both sides and a closeup of a plank of black poplar / Populus trichocarpa

figured cottonwood turning sticks that have been moistened to show the grain

turning stock

veneer

spalted cottonwood bowl blanks

spalted plank --- also appears to be a cluster burl

burls as turning stock --- I am highly dubious about the color; possibly they have been waxed but even so the color seems excessively rich

California cottonwood / Populus fremontii burl planks --- HUGE enlargements are present.

California cottonwood / Populus fremontii burl bowl blanks slathered in wax and with both levels of enlargement present. These are more cluster burl pieces than full burl pieces.

crotch bowl just litsed as cottonwood

cottonwood crotch hollow form and curly cottonwood bowl

spalted bowl just litsed as cottonwood

platter just listed as cottonwood

turned box just listed as cottonwood