It’s a scene that many Kansans know well — white fluff falling from the sky — a sign that the cottonwood trees are pollinating again.
Many Kansans will describe standing next to the cottonwood tree as a peaceful, gentle feeling and, as wind rustles, its leaves create a delicate sound, unique to the tree.
“Listening to the wind blow through the leaves is just quite an experience,” said Amy Jordan, horticulturist with the Lyon County Extension Office.
But the cottonwood, which became the state tree in 1937, has been declining in numbers around Kansas for the past 25 years, according to the K-State Research and Extension Office.
Kansas now has more than 100,000 acres of cottonwoods — two-thirds less acreage than Kansas had during the Dust Bowl.
“What’s most alarming about the cottonwood’s decline here is the drop in the number of small trees,” said Kansas Forestry Service Forestry Coordinator Bob Atchison. “That can be a direct sign a species isn’t reproducing well enough to maintain its role in a region’s woodlands.”
In a phone conversation, Thad Rhodes, district forester of the north central area for the Kansas Forestry Service, said he isn’t seeing the number of cottonwood trees he would expect to see.
Rhodes said a majority of the time, it depends on location.
“Most of the time you’re going to see regeneration along the flood plains,” Rhodes said.
In the Emporia area, the decline of trees isn’t as ied to the water table as it is in western Kansas, he added.
“It’s probably going to be due to the impoundment of the dams and reservoirs that reduce the flooding,” said Rhodes . “There’s going to be a little bit less on typical outflows or seasonal water flows.”
Rhodes said cottonwood trees are typically seen along creeks and streams. And in the eastern part of the state, there are a lot less active channels than there used to be.
“It’s a pretty defined channel where the trees are,” he said. “Cottonwoods are going to need pretty much a full sunlight area. They need a lot of solar action to be able to sprout and grow.”
Jordan said she doesn’t think we’re seeing as much of a problem here.
“But there are issues,” she said. “You do see big trees along rivers and things. That’s where they want to be.”
To grow, cottonwood seeds must fall on a freshly silted, wet shoreline or a flood plain, Atchison said. If they don’t, they will die. Such seedbed areas shrank through the second half of the 20th century.
Atchison said the future of the cottonwood tree depends on the decision the state of Kansas makes about water.
“As socioeconomic factors guide (a) future decision, it’s my hope that the state tree and our other natural resources will somehow be figured into the equation...” he said.
Another issue the cottonwood is having is harvesting. The cottonwood is the number one tree harvested and processed in Kansas, Atchison said.
Cottonwood Tree Facts
• Good seed crops are the rule for cottonwood trees.
• Seed production starts when the female trees are 5 to 10 years old.
• The white fluff attached to the seeds gave the tree its name. The fluff can drift in the wind several hundred feet.
• Cottonwood trees often live to age 100 in the high plains.
• Cottonwood trees like to grow near water, such as riverbanks because of their love for water.
Sources
K-State Research and Extension