Swamp/Black/River Cottonwood (Populus)

Supported by a solid reddish-brown crown-high rugged bark, a swamp cottonwood generally grows taller than its eastern counterpart, around 80-90 feet. Its simple dark green leaves are mostly broadly ovate with a subacute apex; they also tend to form a gradient of color, starting from a darker green at the top switching to a paler shade towards the bottom.

Swamp cottonwoods are found towards the southern end of Alabama, mainly in the lower part of the Mobile Delta. They also grow up in the Mississippi and Ohio drainages to Michigan and from Connecticut to Louisiana.