A large tree with a narrow crown that grows on bottomland sites on the Pacific coast and Inland Empire. It is the largest of the American cottonwoods and the largest broadleaf tree in the Pacific northwest. It is similar to P. balsamifera and probably has similar uses to P. tremuloides. Leaves and twigs are similar to P. balsamifera but laterals on the twigs are often divergent. Bark is initially smooth and greenish, becoming pale gray, and deeply and sharply furrowed as it ages (similar to P. balsamifera).