WILLOW FAMILY 



Aspen is the tree of whose wood the cross of our Saviour was 

 made and that it still shivers in remembrance of that fact. 



Far off in highland wilds 'tis said, 

 But truth now laughs at fancy's lore, 

 That of this tree the cross was made 

 Which erst the Lord of Glory bore ; 

 And of that deed its leaves confess 

 E'er since a troubled consciousness. 



—Spirit of the Woods. 



LARGE-TOOTHED ASPEN 



Fop u his grandidentata. 



Common in the forest, preferring rich, moist, sandy soil, near the 

 borders of swamps and streams. Reaches the height of sixty feet, 

 with a trunk two feet in diameter and slender spread- 

 ing branches which form a narrow round-topped 

 head. Ranges from Nova Scotia through Ontario to 

 Minnesota; southward to Delaware, along the Alle- 

 ghanies to North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. 



Bark. — On old trees near the base, dark brown, 

 fissured and divided into broad flat ridges ; on 

 younger stems and on the branches smooth and light 

 gray tinged with green. Branchlets stout, coated 

 at first with pale tomentum, later they become red- 

 brown or dark orange, finally become dark gray, 

 much roughened by the leaf scars. 



Wood. — Light brown, sapwood nearly white ; 

 light, soft, close-grained but not strong. Largely 

 manufactured into wood pulp, occasionally used for 

 wooden-ware. Sp. gr., 0.4632; weight of cu. ft., 

 28.87 lbs. 



Leaf Buds. — Spread from the branch at a wide 

 angle, broadly ovate, acute, one-eighth of an inch 

 long ; about half the size of the flower-buds which 

 otherwise resemble them. 



Leaves. — Alternate, simple, three to four inches 

 long two to three inches broad, broadly-ovate, three- 

 nerved, wedge-shaped, truncate or rounded at base, 

 coarsely and irregularly crenate with incurved teeth, 

 acute or acuminate ; midrib and veins conspicuous. 

 They come out of the bud involute, coated with hoary tomentum, 

 when full grown are dark green above, pale green beneath. In 



418 



Large-Toothed 

 Aspen, Populus 

 grandidentata. 

 Fruiting Ament, 

 4' to 5' long. 



