Trembling
Aspen is also known as Quaking Aspen, Quivering Aspen,
Quaking Asp, Golden Aspen, Mountain Aspen, Trembling
Poplar, Popple
Some
native peoples called Trembling Aspen "noisy leaf"
UNIQUE
FEATURES:
The
leaves quiver or tremble at the slightest breeze
Trembling
Aspen can sprout from root suckers
Trembling
Aspen are quick growing but short lived (around 50
years)
Trembling
Aspen provide food for the beaver, moose, elk and
deer, nesting in rotten trunks for birds
LOCATION:
Trembling
Aspen grow throughout BC
Trembling
Aspen appear east of the Coast Ranges
Narrow
band along east coast of Vancouver Island
Very
common in the northeast corner of BC
Trembling
Aspen likes well drained, moist soils rich in calcium
SIZE:
Trembling
Aspen grow up to 25 metres tall
FRUIT:
tiny,
down-covered capsules, full of seeds
FLOWERS:
male
catkins: 2 to 3 cm long female catkins: 4 to 10 cm
long female and male catkins are found on separate
trees
appear
with or before leaves
LEAVES:
round
to triangular shape
pointed
tip and edges round-tipped
stalk
is flattened so leaf can 'tremble' or move at the
slightest breeze
smooth,
dark green with a paler underside, turns yellow in
the fall
BARK:
smooth,
greenish white turning blackish and roughened at the
base when mature
doesn't
peel
black
scars show where branches once grew
often
show scars of bears and other animals
WOOD
CHARACTERISTICS:
soft,
brittle, not durable
USES:
modern
- pulp, waferboard, chopsticks, early settlers derived
a quinine-like substance from the inner bark, boiled
branches made a cleanser for guns, traps and to remove
human scent from hunters
traditional
- inner bark: food (raw or roasted); wood: tent poles,
fuels, canoes - rotten wood was used to line babies'
cradles because it was soft; bark/roots: chewed and
applied to wounds to stop the bleeding
LEAVES:
