I was scanning through files of old photographs yesterday, looking for an image to use for a project, when I came across a photo of a cottonwood leaf that had gotten caught by big bluestem. I remembered how much I liked that photo. A little later, I was looking through another folder of images and found a couple photos of cottonwood leaves along a stream at the Niobrara Valley Preserve. I liked those photos too. “Fine,” I thought, “I’ll just go with it.” Thus, today’s Photos of the Week post features photos of cottonwood leaves.
Just because.
The Prairie Ecologist 
I greatly enjoyed these! I’m originally from Central Kansas, where people have a special place in our hearts and heads for cottonwood trees. I still miss the way they sound and look in the wind (though I wouldn’t want one next to my air conditioner). Thanks for the beautiful photos!
Is the 4th “old scanned ” picture Ginko tree leaves?
No. but you’re right that they look like that. That was a small clump of cottonwood leaves that fell before the leaves were fully formed, if I remember correctly. A May photo from The Niobrara Valley Preserve.
Excellent reasoning!