I found cottonwood seeds both inside capsules and already released in plant pots by my front door, all from branches cut from 100+ year old trees in Colorado around mid-October. The trees have multiple fungal infections, wasps and other insects living in them, and the tops are falling apart with large pieces of white bark dropping everywhere.

Huge bird populations frequent these trees. When I first collected the seeds, they were unmistakably cottonwood seeds: fluffy with the characteristic cotton.

Everything I’ve read says cottonwood seeds only release May-July at the latest. Has anyone documented late fall seed release, possibly as a last attempt by dying trees to reproduce? I have additional questions about germination, but I’m waiting to see if anyone has experienced this kind of out-of-season seed release first.