"Snow" in the Spring

For the last few weeks there’s been what looks like small translucent cotton balls flying through the air. At times it’s been so heavy that it resembles a snowstorm. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I was riding on the bus home one afternoon and was just fascinated by it; hundreds of dime sized pieces swirling around us, moving at the whim of the wind. The parking lot at work is covered with it. I couldn't resist picking up some of the cottony mass for a closer inspection.

After wondering what it was in my head for far longer than I’m willing to admit, it dawned on me that it was probably cottonwood. A tree that I only became familiar with recently because of a book I'd read (yet another reason I love books, I’m always learning something new). A woman at work confirmed my newfound conclusion when she mentioned her son thought the ever present cottonwood was snow. 

It’s not falling as heavily now but there’s still plenty of it on the ground. While at Kelsey Creek Park in Bellevue last weekend I saw the actual trees, not just the fluffy white seeds floating in the air. I got pretty excited too probably because the cottonwood tree is so new to me. And well frankly I excite very easily when it comes to being exposed to something different.

So of course I did some research. Turns out they grow in the South as well, but I could only find mentions of them being in North Carolina near stream banks and bottomlands. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Cottonwood trees produce catkins—long clusters of small flowers. In June the ripe catkins suddenly burst open and spill fluffy white seeds into the air."

 

When I think of experiencing new things here in Washington state learning about a tree isn't wasn't what I expected to add to the list.

Interesting cottonwood tree facts:
*They typically grow to about 100 feet tall.

*They can live to be more than 100 years old.
*The Eastern Cottonwood is the state tree of Kansas and Nebraska.

 

“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.”
-Joyce Kilmer