Aspen (Poplar Tremuloides)

Tim Parkin

Amateur Photographer who plays with big cameras and film when in between digital photographs.

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The leaves of the aspen flutter,
though the air be still as glass;
they speak in a voice of silver,
to the meadow and the pass.Traditional mountain verse

The aspen leaves tremble delicately,
giving off a sound as of tiny bells.John Muir (Our National Parks)

Colorado Stand, Joe Cornish

The aspen is a real treasure of a tree species from North America. I should be more specific and say that quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is the real treasure, as although we have aspen across Europe, it is the European Aspen (Populus tremula) species and doesn't have the same visual impact. (There are also aspen in Asia, different species in Korea and China, which I will mention briefly later.)

For most of the article, I will be talking about the US version as that is the one with the paper-white bark marked by the characteristic black ‘staring eye’. I asked Matt Payne and Joe Cornish for aspen photos for this article, and they kindly provided a few that you will find throughout the article.

As the Latin name suggests, aspen is a form of poplar, of which there are many types around the world, from the chunky white poplar to the tall black poplar. The other famous poplar is the cottonwood, another landscape photographer's favourite.

Telluride, Matt Payne

Poplar tends to prefer waterways and floodplains at lower elevations and are characterised by grey or green bark. In contrast, the quaking aspen is very different and exhibits an unusual tolerance for diverse conditions. It also has a pure white bark that stands out against darker forest, and the flattened stems (petioles) of its waxy leaves allow them to clatter together in the wind. The sound is extraordinary, as if the whole tree were murmuring to itself.