Name: Catmint/Robin PNW WA half hour south of Olym (Zone 8a)
oh, I've always wondered what tree was producing all the cottony seeds floating through the air! Cottonwood is the perfect name! I think maybe they're called poplars up here?
"One of the pleasures of being a gardener comes from the enjoyment you get looking at other people's yards”
― Thalassa Cruso
Both Populus deltoides and tremuloides (Cottonwood and Quacking aspen) have leaf stems that are flat. Are they flat? It could still be some other poplar, but I am guessing it is something else.
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers. - Socrates
The cottonwoods around here were very prolific this year. Heavy "snow" for almost two weeks. Hate those things.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
I'm leaning towards Betula (Birch) as bamira referred to earlier but it's just a guess on my part because I'm not good at identifying or comparing photos. It's been a long time since I've been in the Northeast but there are a couple of Birches that are native to that area of the U.S. and the leaves just reminded me of birch for some reason.
For comparison, scroll down these pages and enlarge the leaf images:
Name: Lauri N Central Wash. - the dry side (Zone 5b)
I'm surrounded by cottonwoods and they often have odd shaped leaves when they first come up. Your photo looks just like the ones that sprout out of my lawn all the time.
This is the flat stem I am talking about. This IS a pic of Populus deltoides, and the leaf stem is slightly twisting to show the flatness. http://forestry.sfasu.edu/facu...
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers. - Socrates