cottonwood

American  

[kot-n-wood] / ˈkɒt nˌwʊd /

noun

1. any of several American poplars, as Populus deltoides, having toothed, triangular leaves and cottonlike tufts on the seeds.

---

cottonwood British  

/ ˈkɒtənˌwʊd /

noun

1. any of several North American poplars, esp Populus deltoides, whose seeds are covered with cottony hairs

2. Also called: tauhinu.  a native New Zealand shrub, Cassinia leptophylla , with daisy-like flowers

---

Etymology

Origin of cottonwood

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805; cotton + wood ¹

Example Sentences

By late afternoon, the final miles carry me east toward the Colorado River, where it meanders past willow and cottonwood.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

He approached, climbed the cottonwood tree and snatched a single pale-blue egg.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

Hiking through the Wishbone area last summer, advocates noted cedar, hemlock, maple, cottonwood and alder trees, as well as huckleberries, gooseberries and devil’s club plants.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 2, 2024

Here grow maple, oak, hickory, cottonwood, sycamore, river birch, hackberry, fronds bowed under climbing English ivy, with winter creeper spreading underfoot.

From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2023

Few lights burned; but from a half-dozen chimneys slow, almost phosphorescent pinon smoke emerged, dissipating in a flat way over the town, seeping into bushy cottonwood foliage.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols