swamp cottonwood, Populus heterophylla

Mike's excitement. Years ago I was out exploring for plants with a couple of guys from the Michigan Natural Features Inventory office. All of a sudden Mike started whooping and hollering. He had spotted some swamp cottonwood. This is a Michigan endangered species. Wiki says "Nowhere is it considered abundant". Wiki also says swamp cottonwood can grow to 100 feet tall. It definitely can, which is my excuse for this image. I've never been around one that was much smaller. These aments are from those trees that grow in a woodland vernal pool. Wiki also says that "nowhere is it considered abundant". Swamp cottonwoods has only been found in six sites in Michigan. Two of those reports are more than a century old. Swamp cottonwood has been reported from AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, and ON. Lenawee Co MI, 3/23/12. Willow family, Salicaceae.