Aspen poplar (people tremble)
Appearance: A tree that sheds its leaves for winter, up to approx. 30 m, sprouting up shoots, In the Białowieża Primeval Forest there are specimens growing up to 36-40 meters. The crown is very loose at first, thanks to widely spaced branches, later rather conical, and finally roundish to irregular, multi-divided.
The trunk is rarely completely straight, usually a bit tilted.
Lower branches stick out, the upper ones rise more steeply.
Kora naga, quite smooth, a bit sticky, grey-green, with numerous lenticels, also in older trees, it is not littered or broken into smaller planes. Glossy annual shoots, dark brownish-reddish, with tight fit, narrow buds, Leaves long 3-10 cm, long-tailed are usually heart-shaped at the base, otherwise they are usually round or ovoid-round with a very short one, a barely marked apex, bluntly serrated or shallow notched at the edges, The top side (iści is dull, gray-green or green, pants – always brighter, ale country. Dioecious tree.
Male cats are usually very numerous, grayish-white with purple-red anthers. Greenish female cats have 4 cm in length, and in fruiting season they extend to 12 cm, Habitat; Aspen trees are ideal pioneers in soils of early stage of development, they like loose habitats, luminous and fertile. Occurrence: Of all the poplar species, this poplar is the most widely distributed in Europe and occurs mainly in clearings, on the edge of forests, in the wilderness or in belts of trees in the lowlands, but also in the mountains, even above 1000 m n.p.m.
Flowering period: March to April. General thoughts. Aspen is an extremely light-loving tree and it does not tolerate stronger shading. At the same time, it grows very quickly and does not have high soil requirements. Female plants produce great amounts of volatile seeds, which in early summer, compacted into small clumps like cotton wool, are blown away by the wind. These features cause, that aspen is an almost perfect pioneering woody species, Field observations confirm this thesis. Everywhere in the fallow season, in abandoned quarries or along communication routes (especially on railway lines) dense concentrations of aspen and white birch are formed in a short time. As soon as on the plot inhabited by one of these trees other woody plants will germinate and grow, the competitive struggle begins, which, admittedly, cannot withstand the fast growing ones, but all in all, short-lived pioneering trees. Therefore, after a dozen or so years, they usually give way to other trees.
Poplar wood is soft and therefore hardly ever used in furniture and as a building material, which doesn't mean, that is worthless. The wood of freshly cut aspen is quite heavy due to its relatively high water content, After drying, it becomes very light, and also can be processed well. In sawmills and machine tools, unlike many other types of wood, it hardly crumbles and is therefore eagerly used to make matches. Besides, aspen wood shavings are used for braiding.