Quaking aspen: Difference between revisions

Common quaking aspen characteristics are the trembling leaves and the white bark.  Quaking aspens grow upright from 20-100 ft. tall with trunks 4-36 in. in diameter.  The alternating, deciduous leaves are rounded and heartshaped with small grooves or teeth on the edges.  The leaves  rangin from 1.5-3 in. in length, [http://www.northern.edu/natsource/TREESA1/Quacki1.htm] and tend to be dark-green ontop and lighter green beneath.  In the fall, they turn yellow, orange, gold, or red. [http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/trees/populustrem.html]  The leaf petiole is flattened and extends all the way to the tip of the leaf, allowing it to flutter or "quake" in the wind. [http://extension.usu.edu/range/Woody/quakingaspen.htm]  [[Image:Sketch of Aspen Leaves.jpg|thumb|150px|left|A sketch of quaking aspen leaves and catkins.]] The slender stems are reddish-brown, but gray over the years.  The branches grow up and out, creating a crowned top.  The characteristic bark of a quaking aspen is a smooth, creamy white or pale green that becomes thick and lined as the tree ages.  It can become 1-2 in. deep on older trees.  The roots are widespread and numerous, some reaching as far as 100 ft. away and others deeper than 5 ft. [http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/trees/populustrem.html]  Flowers are dioecious (having male and female flowers on different plants of the same species) [http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861604802/dioecious.html] and contained in catkins (a long hanging furry cluster of tiny leaves and flowers without petals) [http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/catkins.html] 1-3 in. long.  The seeds have long seed hairs attached to light and pear-shaped capsules.  The fruits are two-valved brown or light-green pods. [http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/trees/populustrem.html]