Aspen bark varies from brilliant white to gray and has a light chalky dusting to it.  Aspens are afflicted with a number of rots and fungi and it is common to see large black blotches on their stems.  Shallow roots in shallow soils often lead to tumbling aspens.  Stem buds are commonly killed by munching elk or severe freezes producing bows in the trunks.  Elk tooth marks, bear claw marks, and human graffiti marks are other common deformations Aspens must endure.

      "Populus" is a classical Latin tree name given to this genus by Linnaeus in 1753.  The Greek ending "oides" indicates "resemblance" and "tremuloides" thus means "resembling the species Populus tremula".   "Trem" is Latin for "trembling", used here to describe the manner in which the leaves of both these species quiver in the slightest breeze.

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring.
West Mancos Trail, October 9, 2008.

Aspens are the most widely distributed tree in North America, ranging from Newfoundland to Alaska, through the Sierras and Rockies to Mexico, and from the Pacific states across the northern and central tier of states in the Untied States to the Atlantic.

The even-aged Aspen stand in the photograph at left probably sprouted from roots of trees logged about 30 years ago.  Notice the tightly packed growth pattern, the lack of lower limbs, and the dark spots on the trunks where old limbs grew.  Lower limbs almost always do die (leaving a black V-shaped scar) and the tree matures to a long, straight single trunk, topped by a symmetrical crown of leaves. Trees can grow to three feet in diameter and 75 feet tall with the lower bark becoming gray and broadly cracked.  Aspens live only about 100 years.

Aspen bark can be smooth, bright white, gray, warty, or all of the above on the same tree.

Elk-chew is acceptable, even exciting to see; human graffiti is neither.

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring.
Echo Basin Loop Road, June 7, 2004.

Limbs typically have a darkened arch at their junction with trunk.

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring.
Sharkstooth Road, June 30, 2000.

"Populus" is Latin for "people" and is the classical Latin name for the tree.  "Tremuloides" indicates that this tree is similar ("oides") to the European tree, Populus tremula. "Tremula" refers, of course, to the trembling, quaking, leaves of both species.  Aspens are commonly called "Quakies".

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring.
Trout Lake, September 13, 2000.

It is common to find patches of trees in the fall with marvelous maroons and reds, but golden-yellow is by far more common.  Click to see Aspen gold.

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring.
Near Haviland Lake, April 31, 2008.

When you walk Aspen forests in the spring, use a hand lens and dive into the miniature beauty of the flowers.  Aspens, and other members of the Willow Family, are dioecious, that is, they have male flowers (shown here) on one tree and female flowers on another.  In the photograph at left, hundreds of minute flowers are clustered in each catkin (a long spike chain).  Bracts are brown, finger-like, and surround creamy yellow flowers (the light creamy color in the photograph at left) with black-tipped stamens projecting.  

Montane, subalpine. Woodlands. Spring.
Near Haviland Lake, April 31, 2008.

An abundance of Aspen flowers emerge in early spring before Aspen leaves and provide quite a visual show, especially early in the morning when they glow in the low rays of the sun.