Reply To: Wild Medicinals

[Benna Keoghoe | Registered Herbal Therapist]

Hi Laura,

This is a fantastic question. One that dives into speciation and taxonomy which is rarely a very clear study. Things are changing often depending on the agreement on what makes one species different from another and as we discover more with more genetic understanding. What I think is going on here is that there is a subspecies (Populus balsamifera spp trichocarpa) but some may consider it different enough to be a sully separate species (Populus trichocarpa). There are many other examples of this situation in taxonomy, where the decision hasn’t fully been mad eon species vs. subspecies.
While Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera) is found in other areas of BC, it seems that most or all of the Cottonwood on Vancouver Island are Black Cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa).

I hope that answers your question a bit!
Warmly,
Benna