Black and Quaking

The deeply golden spear tips seen above are near perfect examples of peak Black cottonwood. Mark Hoshovsky photographed them at the Silver Mountain Historic Site on Ebbetts Pass (CA 4) in Alpine County.

Black cottonwood have a spear-shaped leaf and rounded stem, whereas Frémont cottonwood leaves are broader, have a scalloped edge and a flat stem. Black cottonwood grow mostly above 7,000′ whereas Frémont cottonwood are usually found growing below 6,000′. With these guidelines, it’s easy to tell them apart.

Discerning the differences between cottonwood and aspen is even easier, though the two are often mistaken.

Quaking aspen leaves are smaller, more rounded and mostly yellow, though also can be golden, orange or red. The trunks are radically different, Aspen trunks are smooth and white or green. Cottonwood are brown and rough. Cottonwood and aspen both thrive near water sources, though aspen like smaller creeks, while cottonwood prefer bigger streams.

On Hoshovsky’s drive from the East Fork of the Carson River, along Monitor Pass and past Heenan Lake, he passed the burn scar from the 2015 Washington Fire. The conifers are nearly all gone, but willows and aspen are thriving in the sunlight and promise to provide an increasingly spectacular display for decades to come.