Wander & Wonder

It’s cottonwood ‘snow’ season in Minnesota

A handful of seeds from a cottonwood tree
A summer "snowball" in Minnesota: A handful of cottonwood seeds and their accompanying "cotton" strands that help them drift through the air, as seen in the Twin Cities in May 2024.
Andrew Krueger | MPR News file

Today’s weather forecast for Minnesota: Highs in the 80s to low 90s, hazy skies, scattered showers and storms... and if you live anywhere near a cottonwood tree, a good chance for “snow.”

It’s an annual late spring-early summer tradition: Cottonwood trees release thousands upon thousands of tiny seeds attached to strands of “cotton” that help those seeds drift through the air like fluffy snowflakes.

The cotton is what gave the trees their name — and depending on what you think of those seeds, it’s also what gives those trees a bad name.

Clumps of "cotton" -- filled with seeds -- hang from a cottonwood tree
Clumps of "cotton" — filled with seeds — hang from a cottonwood tree.
Andrew Krueger | MPR News file

The floating cotton certainly doesn’t help anyone suffering from allergies. It can clog up air vents and air conditioning units. At dusk, it can make the world resemble “The Upside Down” from “Stranger Things.”

At the same time, when those floating seeds are drifting about on a sunny day, silhouetted against the blue sky — it can be a magical, beautiful scene.

Cottonwood seeds accumulate on a lawn
Cottonwood seeds — attached to "cotton" that help them drift through the air — accumulate on a lawn in the Twin Cities.
Andrew Krueger | MPR News file

If you live in close proximity to a cottonwood tree, you probably know all about their quirks and annoyances. If you don’t, here’s some more information about them from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and from the University of Minnesota.

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