Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Aspens






They are sooo amazing, so beautiful, especially in autumn. With their bright yellow leaves fluttering in the slightest wind, their smooth white trunks shooting up to the sky.... they are unlike any other tree on our planet.


Did you know that most of them are not growing from seeds, like other plants? Aspens are all clones, or a better way to describe it, they are all part of a whole. One seed germinates and if it becomes a tree, it starts to clone itself. Its roots start to shoot upward and in time they become trunks of a new tree. Over time the root system expands and a whole aspen forest is grown, with identical trees. Aspen colonies can survive almost anything; cutting them down just kills individual trees, the root system remains intact; deer and elk may destroy individual trees, but not the colony; extreme temperatures cannot harm them since deep underground temperatures are always the same; forest fires cannot destroy the either, the root system underground is safe from the heat and as soon as the fire is over, new aspens shoot up towards the sky. Did you notice that aspens are the first trees back in a forest after a fire? I did, since I started to pay attention...


I was always fascinated by aspens. I've seen them in my homeland, grew up with them around me, drove through neverending aspen forests in Russia - one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen - ; the Kachina Peaks have a few aspen forests, most dense and beautiful around Lockett Meadow....

They live almost anywhere, in temperatures of -78F as well as 110F, in moist soil, as well as desert environments. I've read that scientists have dated aspen colonies. The oldest one is 80,000 years old! They named it Prando. It lives in Central Utah, in Fish Lake National Forest and it has about 47,000 aspens....


Some amazing facts, right? I've read about this subject after hearing a ranger talk one night at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon about aspens a few years ago..... but with or without knowing all these facts, aspens are still some of my favorite trees, especially at this time of the year....

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the beautiful photo. I love aspens. They are my favorite tree. I even have earrings that are gold aspen leaves preserved in resin. I will wear them next time I see you! So glad you were able to enjoy the beauty of Fall.

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