0 – 15% – Independence (3,950′) – Independence resident and color spotter, Dennis Vance reports that Black Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa) at the community wood lot are starting to glow yellow-gold.
Fremont cottonwood prefer desert oases, whereas black cottonwood are the mountain stream-hugging variety. At elevations where they overlap, according to Paul McFarland of Friends of the Inyo, they form trees that mix the characteristics of each’s leaves. Fremont cottonwood have triangular leaves, where black cottonwood have spearpoint shaped leaves.
