OF Ohio 



41 



QUAKING ASPEN 



Populus tremuloides, Michaux 



THE Quaking Aspen is also called Trembling Aspen and 

 Small-toothed Aspen. The air must be remarkably still 

 if the foliage is not quaking or trembling. 



The leaves are simple, alternate, 1 >^ to 2 ^ inches long, 

 nearly round, finely toothed on margin, with leaf-stalks 

 flattened laterally. 



The flowers ap- 

 pear early in the 

 spring. P o 1 Ic n- 

 bearing and seed- 

 producing occur 

 on difi"erent trees. 

 Both are arranged 

 in slender droop- 

 ing tassels. 



The fruit is a 

 2 - valved capsule 

 containing small 

 seeds with tufts of 

 fine hairs. 



The bark is 

 white or grayish 

 to yellowish- 

 green ; on old 

 trunks becomes 

 rough and black. 

 The twigs arc 

 smooth, shiny, 

 r e d d i sh-brown. 

 The buds are narrow, conical, sharp-pointed, smooth, shiny, 

 appear varnished, covered with 6 to 7 reddish-brown scales. 



The wood is soft, weak, not durable, fine in texture, white 

 to light brown. It is used for paper pulp, boxes, crates and 

 wooden dishes. 



The Quaking Aspen is the most widely distributed tree 

 in North America. It is a transcontinental tree extending 

 from Newfoundland to Alaska and south to New Jersey, 

 Kentucky. Mexico and California. In Ohio it occurs spar- 

 ingly in local stands in the northern half of the State, and 

 is rare or absent in the southern half. One usually finds it 

 in waste places, abandoned fields, burnt-over areas or cut- 

 over lands. In some places it prepares the way for more 

 valuable trees. 



QUAKING ASPEN 



One-foorth natural size, except enlarged flowera 

 and twis. 



