Summer "snow" continues to fall, drift, and float from eastern cottonwood tree branches, some reaching 100 feet into the sky.  While the fibers of fluffy white down are interesting and at times pretty, very few homeowners appreciate the reproductive potentials of a cottonwood.

The states east of the Mississippi River might be overrun by cottonwood trees if it were not for the fragile nature of the seeds attached to the fluff.  If a seed does not come in contact with exposed mineral soil within a few hours of drifting down from the tree, the seed will perish.

It's this white fluff that g...