Beautiful or interesting

My criteria for a STILL blog subject is that it has to be beautiful or interesting (to me). Sometimes I get lucky, and the subject is both beautiful and interesting. Cottonwood catkins are not beautiful. But they are interesting (to me). Cottonwoods are dioecious, meaning individual trees are either male or female. This is a male catkin. Female catkins become green beaded “capsules” that open in early summer to release white, cottony seeds. Cottonwood trees like water, and here in the North where we have a lot of water, so the trees tend to get quite large–up to 100 feet tall. Matter of fact, on the open prairies of the midwest, the presence of cottonwood trees on the horizon often meant a water source was nearby.

Eastern cottonwood catkins (Populus deltoides)