Common aspen. Aspen, or trembling poplar: medicinal properties and use in folk medicine

Almost every person living in central Russia knows the appearance of aspen. The tree is equally attractive at any time of the year. It not only looks charming, but also brings many benefits. Certain parts of the plant are taken for production medicines and animal feed.

Almost every person living in central Russia knows the appearance of aspen

The correct name of the tree - “trembling poplar” - is not known to everyone. It received this name due to its ability to sway (tremble) intensely even from a slight blow of wind. Aspen has a rather impressive appearance - a columnar trunk with gray-olive bark and a lush crown. The trunk can be up to 1 m in diameter, and the height of a perennial representative often reaches 30-35 m.

With age, peculiar lentils form on the bark, which make the appearance of aspen even more attractive. It has high frost resistance. Grows in moist, acidified soil and is not afraid of shade. Distinctive feature It differs from similar trees, for example, poplar, in the unique shape of its leaves. It is also easy to calculate by the flowers that appear in the first days of spring.

The leaves are rhombic in shape with jagged edges, and their width often exceeds their length. The foliage is attached to the branches using thin cuttings, which also creates the effect of trembling while swaying in the wind. The leaves of young aspen are similar to poplar, so they can sometimes be confused.

With age, peculiar lentils form on the bark, which make the appearance of aspen even more attractive.

Unusual inflorescences appear on aspen trees with the arrival of the first warm days spring. They are divided into women's and men's, and their shape resembles jewelry - earrings. Reproduction occurs thanks to the seeds, which are located on the inflorescences. They spread throughout the areas adjacent to the tree due to the small pappus that is present on each inflorescence.

Gallery: aspen tree (25 photos)

Why aspen always trembles (video)

Beneficial features

Aspen can be confidently called useful tree. It has many properties that are used by humans in various life spheres. Thus, the bark is often used as a dietary supplement to food. It is cut into strips and dried. In winter, small quantities of crushed bark are added to food. This supplement tones and helps cope with fatigue.

The leaves of the tree are diamond-shaped, with jagged edges, and their width often exceeds their length.

Some people make flour from the bark - aspen bast, which can be used for cooking.

The leaves and bark are often used as medicine. A decoction of the leaves is a good expectorant. It is drunk for influenza and ARVI to reduce fever and high temperature bodies. The decoction is also used to treat other diseases:

• hemorrhoids;
• diabetes mellitus;
• pancreatitis.

The use of aspen decoction is recommended for people suffering from diseases of the genitourinary system. A decoction or tincture is useful for problems with work gastrointestinal tract. You do not have to buy the medicine at the pharmacy; you can prepare it yourself. The recipe is simple: dried or fresh leaves must be poured big amount water and boil over low heat. Cool the resulting decoction and drink it in a certain dosage, which is best agreed with your doctor.

Common aspen (video)

Use in construction

Aspen is the tree from which good material for construction. For this purpose, trees older than 35 years are used. Objects made from this material look very attractive, as the wood is white in color, soft and pleasant to the touch.

It is not used for the construction of residential premises, but is often used for finishing baths and saunas.

Landscape designers often use this tree as a material to implement ideas for landscaping. Aspen is planted in parks and city areas, as it is perfect for landscaping areas. In spring and summer, the tree is covered with thick greenery, which in the fall takes on a bright red hue with splashes of orange and yellow. The plant does not require special care and improves the quality of the soil in which it grows.

Women tree Poppulus tremulus; most of all it is used for chipped (carved and turned) wooden dishes, which is why it is also called baklushey, lower. Bitter aspen, in the song. The aspen is a cursed tree, Judas hanged himself on it, and since then the leaf on it has been trembling. On the… … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Judas tree, aspen, (trembling) poplar Dictionary of Russian synonyms. aspen noun, number of synonyms: 6 tree (618) ... Synonym dictionary

aspen- trembling (Balmont); liquid (Pleshcheev, Turgenev); shy (Fofanov); restless (Machtet); tender (Bogolyubova); sad (Merezhkovsky); timid (Belousov, Fofanov); stately (Turgenev); thin (Balmont); tremulous leaf (Aksakov) Epithets... ... Dictionary of epithets

ASPEN, a tree of the poplar genus. Distributed in northern Eurasia, in coniferous and deciduous forests; in the steppes it forms aspen spikes. Grows quickly. Lives 80-90 (rarely up to 150) years. Used in protective plantings. The wood is resistant to rotting during... ... Modern encyclopedia

Tree of the poplar genus. Grows in northern Eurasia in coniferous and deciduous forests; in the steppes it forms aspen spikes. Used in protective plantings, wood in the production of matches, pulp, containers, various crafts... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

ASPEN, aspens, women. deciduous tree from the willow family. Ushakov's explanatory dictionary. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

ASPEN, s, female. A deciduous tree related to poplar. Into the language of native aspen (translate) what (jokingly) to say simply and clearly what n. complex. | adj. aspen, oh, oh. How about. the leaf is trembling who n. (finely and often, usually about a state of fright, fear) ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

The semantics of the mythopoetic image of O. is motivated by two features of this tree: the trembling of the leaves even in calm weather (the scientific name is O. Populus tremula, i.e. “shaking poplar”; Wed French tremble, etc.) and a reddish tint of wood... Encyclopedia of Mythology

Trembling poplar (Populus tremula), a tree (up to 35 m high with smooth gray bark) from the poplar genus. The leaves are round, irregularly toothed. Their long thin petioles bend in the wind (the leaves tremble easily). At the base of young leaves... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

No top. Gorky Joking. iron. An inept, stupid person. BalSok., 48. May you (him, etc.) be on the aspen tree! Razg. Outdated Wishing death to someone. BMS 1998, 424. Damn you! People's The same as being on an aspen tree for you! DP, 750. May you... ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings

Books

• Aspen Factory, Ian M. Banks. Sixteen-year-old Frank is an extraordinary lad who lives with his father on a remote Scottish island. On the hill next to Frank there is the Aspen Factory - a device that means... eBook
• Aspen Factory, Banks I. M.. 16-year-old Frank is a wonderful lad. Vin, it seems, is not at all what she pretends to be. In his house there is a mysterious dial, an aspen factory, which means the death of the clots that were consumed by the shepherd. They have…

Common aspen (Populus tremula).

Other names: trembling poplar, whispering tree.

Description. Deciduous dioecious tree of the Willow family (Salicaceae) up to 30 m high. root system with roots penetrating deep into the soil, as well as with branched surface roots. The crown of the tree is irregularly rounded. The diameter of the trunk can reach 1 m. The trunk is cylindrical.
The bark of young trees is light green or greenish-gray, smooth. With age, the bark cracks and darkens. The bark at the bottom of the trunk is black. Aspen wood is white with a greenish tint.
The leaves are alternate, leathery, rounded or rounded-rhombic, with a rounded base, acute or obtuse at the apex, crenate along the edge, on long, thin, flattened petioles. Sheet plates with pinnate venation. The upper side of the leaf is green or yellowish-green, the lower side is bluish. In autumn the leaves turn from golden yellow to red.
The flowers are unisexual, small, collected in hanging earrings. Men's earrings are reddish in color, up to 15 cm long, women's earrings are greenish, thinner. Aspen blooms in March - April, before the leaves appear. The fruit is a small capsule with seeds equipped with a tuft of hairs (powder puff).
Common aspen grows in forest and forest-steppe zones, in small areas in coniferous and deciduous forests, along the banks of reservoirs, in swamps, and in ravines. Distributed throughout most of Russia, Europe, China, Mongolia, and Korea. Aspen lives up to 90 years, reproduces vegetatively (offshoots from the roots) and seeds. As an ornamental plant, aspen is grown with weeping and pyramidal crowns.

Collection and preparation of raw materials. For medicinal purposes, the bark, buds, and leaves of common aspen are used. The bark is being harvested in early spring, during the period of sap flow; buds - at the beginning of flowering. The bark is removed from young branches. The raw materials are dried in the shade in the open air or in a dry room with normal ventilation. The kidneys are laid out on cloth or paper in a layer of up to 2 cm, stirred periodically. The shelf life of raw materials is 3 years. The leaves are used fresh and dried; they are harvested in May, when they are still young and fully developed.
Composition of the plant. All parts of the plant contain glycosides (salicin, salicylpopuloside, populin), tannins, organic acids, and essential oil. The composition of the essential oil includes isalpinin, humulene, carylphilene. The kidneys also contain resinous substances, galangin, enzymes (amylase and oxidase), and mineral salts. The leaves contain carotene and a lot of vitamin C (470 mg%). The bark also contains pectin, polysaccharides, glycine betaine.

Medicinal properties, application, treatment.
Aspen preparations have diaphoretic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, diuretic, astringent, emollient, and anthelmintic properties.
IN folk medicine A decoction of aspen bark is used to treat arthritis, arthrosis, rheumatism, kidney diseases, bladder (cystitis), prostate, stomach (gastritis, dyspepsia), to improve digestion and appetite, for diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoids, gout, diabetes, in complex treatment of cancer, syphilis, to normalize the functioning of the biliary tract.
An infusion or decoction of aspen buds is used for gout, polyarthritis, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, acute and chronic cystitis, urinary incontinence, painful urination (especially during pregnancy and after surgery), for prostate adenoma, as an antipyretic for febrile conditions. For cystitis, hemorrhoids, gastritis, dysentery, you can also use kidney tincture.
An ointment prepared from aspen buds is used externally to heal burns, wounds, ulcers, and soften hemorrhoids. Steamed fresh or dried leaves are used in the form of poultices for rheumatic, gouty, and hemorrhoidal pain. Juice from fresh leaves is used to lubricate ringworm and warts.

Dosage forms and doses.
Decoction of aspen bark. 50 grams of dry crushed bark are placed in an enamel bowl, poured with 3 glasses of water, and brought to a boil. After boiling, cook over low heat for 10 minutes, remove from heat, leave for 3 hours, wrapping the dish in a towel, then filter. The decoction is taken in a quarter cup (50 ml) 3-4 r. a day 30 minutes before meals. The broth is stored in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days. Depending on the disease, the course of treatment can last up to 2 months, after which a break of 1 month should be taken.

Infusion of aspen buds. 2 teaspoons of crushed buds are poured with 2 cups of boiling water, left for 15 minutes, filtered. Take half a glass 4 rubles. a day 30 minutes before meals.

Tincture of aspen buds. Prepared with vodka in a ratio of 1:10. One part of the crushed buds is poured with 10 parts of vodka, left for 10 days, shaking occasionally, and filtered. Take 20-30 drops 3 times a day. per day 30 minutes before meals, diluted in a small amount of water.

Ointment from aspen buds. The kidneys are ground into powder (using a coffee grinder). 1 part of the powder is mixed with 4 parts of butter or Vaseline. The ointment is stored in the refrigerator.

This tree is widespread throughout the world. Trembling poplar (common aspen) is found everywhere. And yet, this powerful, beautiful tree did not become a favorite of landscapers and gardeners. Even him fast growth Few people consider it a virtue.

The reason for such a negative attitude towards wood is poplar fluff, which causes people many problems. Today we will introduce trembling poplar (poplar genus). This is one of the representatives of a large family, which includes about 90 species. All of them are divided into six sections.

1. Abaso (Mexican Mexican.

2. Aigeiros (delta poplars):

• sedum (black poplar);
• deltoid;
• pyramidal;
• More

3. Leucoides (leucoid poplars):

• variegated;
• white (or silver);
• trembling (or aspen).

4. Tacamahaca (balsam poplar):

• balsamic;
• laurel leaf;
• Maksimovich's poplar.

5. Turanga: Turanga Euphrates.

6. Hybrids:

• Berlin;
• Moscow;
• Canadian.

Trembling poplar: description

This is a dioecious deciduous tree with a powerful, well-developed root system. Trembling poplar (Latin - Pópulus trémula) grows up to 35 meters in height and lives up to 90 years. The bark is grey-green and smooth. Over time, it darkens and becomes covered with small cracks. The branches are long, with small, sticky, pointed buds.

Leaves

Trembling poplar (willow family) is densely covered with alternate, round, long-petioled leaves with pinnate venation. Their length is from 3 to 7 cm, the upper surface is green, the bottom is bluish, and there are uneven large teeth along the edge.

In autumn the leaves turn bright yellow or Note the trembling poplar (aspen). Even in completely calm, windless weather, its leaves are constantly in motion and trembling. This mobility is explained by flattened petioles, thinner in the center than at the edges.

Bloom

Trembling poplar (you can see the photo in the article) blooms in the last ten days of April or early May (depending on the region of growth). The tree is covered with catkins: massive male (stamen) catkins up to 15 cm long and thinner, small, pistillate female ones. Flowers of both types are simple. They lack a perianth. Male flowers have 5-8 stamens and red anthers, while female flowers have only a pistil with two stigmas. Flowering continues until the leaves completely open.

Fruit

Fruit ripening occurs approximately thirty days after flowering. They open in early June. These are two-leaf capsules with a large number of small seeds, which are equipped with fluffy tufts of hairs. A thousand poplar seeds weigh tenths of a gram. They easily fly over long distances.

Root system

Trembling poplar is a tree with powerful scattered seeds begin to germinate literally after a few hours, falling on moist soil. The seed coat bursts, revealing two tiny cotyledons. After about a day, a root appears on the seed.

K is a small stem (no larger than a pencil) and a tap root, the length of which reaches 30 cm. It should be noted that trembling poplar (aspen) grows very quickly, especially in the first years. By the age of 20, the tree grows up to 10 meters, and by the age of 40 its height reaches its maximum size.

In the first years, the poplar has a more pronounced tap root. Over time, it slows down and soon stops growing altogether. During this period, the lateral processes begin to actively grow. They lie shallow, in the top layer of soil, extend quite far from the mother plant and produce abundant growth. The shoots grow rapidly - in the first year they already reach a height of 50 cm.

Spreading

Trembling poplar is quite widespread. Its habitat is Eurasia, mountainous regions North Africa. Most of its range is in our country. In Russia, aspen is distributed almost everywhere. In the north it grows right up to the borders of the forest and tundra, in the south - to the arid steppes.

In the forest-steppe, trembling poplar forms island groves. On saline soils it can take on a bush-like form. In the Alps it grows in the mountains, at an altitude of up to 2000 meters above sea level. The tree requires light, so if other trees shade the poplar, it dies. Often aspen becomes an admixture in birch forests.

Growing conditions

Trembling poplar is unpretentious to soils and climatic conditions. However, it develops more actively in fertile, mineral-rich, well-aerated soils.

Use of poplar

With a beautiful decorative crown it is used in landscape design. Almost all of its many varieties are excellent for both single and group plantings. Everyone knows that poplar alleys are classics of park landscapes.

Trembling poplar is a real air filter that has found application in urban landscaping and also as a forest-forming species. Its wood is used in many industries - in the furniture, paper and construction industries.

Excellent natural dyes are made from poplar leaves and inflorescences. Kidneys are used in folk medicine. Aspen wood is light and soft, but not very strong. Therefore, most often it is used to make household items (shovels, ladles, spoons, other dugout utensils). It is used to make plywood and wood chips (shingles), which are used in roofing production. In sparsely forested areas, poplar wood is used as a building material for the construction of outbuildings.

But we cannot help but say that it is easily attacked by fungi that cause rotting, so it is not recommended to use such material for the construction of residential buildings.

Aspen wood is widely used in the production of matches. Why did poplar attract manufacturers so much? required products? In this case, its main advantage was taken into account - the absence of tannins and resins in the wood, which give off a smell when burned. In addition, it is very light, burns perfectly, without soot, in a dry state. Match manufacturers also appreciated the fact that poplar wood splits in the desired direction.

Aspen bark has a bitter taste, but this does not prevent it from being used as food for game animals. Moose enjoy gnawing the bark from young trees. Hares prefer to clean it from fallen trunks.

During flowering, bees collect pollen and resinous bud fluid from flowers, turning it into propolis.

Diseases and pests

The most common diseases of trembling poplar are some types of necrosis and wood cancer. In this case, the affected trees must be eliminated, and the remaining stumps must be treated with fuel oil and creosol.

Young poplar seedlings are sometimes subject to fungal diseases. Silvicultural and agrotechnical measures are used against them, and efforts are made to reduce soil moisture. Poplar pests are a large number of insects that lay larvae on leaves. Insecticides are used to control pests. But before choosing the necessary drug, you need to find out exactly what pest attacked the tree.

Medicinal properties and uses

Trembling poplar (aspen) has not yet found use in traditional medicine. And in folk medicine it has been used for a long time and very successfully. Traditional healers use bark, leaves, and buds to make medicinal preparations.

Perhaps not everyone knows that in paganism, aspen was considered a tree overflowing with vitality - its leaves always rustle, as if they were having a leisurely conversation. That is why this tree began to be considered salvation from all evil spirits. Thanks to numerous horror films and our contemporaries, it became known that it is necessary to fight vampires with the help of a wasp stake.

Traditional healers claim that preparations based on aspen (trembling poplar) have analgesic, diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties. The buds contain bitter glycosides, tannins, and benzoic acid. An alcoholic extract from poplar buds has a bactericidal effect on some types of dangerous microbes (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus). Buds are usually harvested in the spring, they are collected from young trees.

Kidney infusion

Aspen buds can be infused with vodka, but it is better to use 70 percent alcohol in a ratio of 1:10. The infusion is prepared over seven days. This tincture is recommended for use in chronic and acute cystitis, rheumatism and padagre. Dilute 25-30 drops of the product in a third of a glass of water and take three times a day after meals.

Decoctions

A decoction of the greenish young bark, according to doctors and reviews from their patients, has a beneficial effect on the inflamed bladder and kidneys. It’s easy to make: add 250 ml of water to a tablespoon (tablespoon) of dry crushed bark and boil the resulting mixture for fifteen minutes over low heat under a lid. Take two tablespoons (tablespoons) three times a day (before meals).

For coughs and colds, another composition is used as a diuretic. Pour one spoon of dry bark into two glasses of water and boil for half an hour. Let the product sit for at least three hours.

Decoction of leaves

A very effective vitamin decoction is prepared from aspen leaves. To do this, you will need one part of dry crushed leaves, which must be poured with four parts of boiling water. The mixture is brought to a boil and left on low heat for fifteen minutes. Then you need to cool it, add a few drops of lemon and take a tablespoon four times a day.

You need to know that a decoction from leaves collected in the fall contains almost half as much vitamin C as from spring and even summer foliage.

Bark tincture

Traditional healers different countries It is recommended that patients suffering from prostate hypertrophy take an alcohol tincture. Pour five tablespoons of dry bark into 0.5 liters of vodka and leave to infuse in a dark place for two weeks. An important detail is that the young bark should be collected in early spring, when it still has a greenish color.

Take this composition one dessert spoon twice a day, before meals. In this way you can infuse the kidneys. A tincture of them is taken twenty drops three times a day.

Ointments

Medicinal ointments are also prepared from poplar buds, which help nursing mothers get rid of cracked nipples. To do this, you need to mix one part of the kidneys with two parts of pork fat, grind well and cook over low heat, stirring until all the moisture is removed from the mass. The same ointment gives excellent results in the treatment of hemorrhoidal cones.

Powdered dried poplar buds mixed with high-quality butter are an excellent wound-healing and anti-inflammatory agent for non-healing ulcers and burns. The ointment is also used to soften hemorrhoids.

Aspen, also known as common aspen, Euro-Siberian, or trembling poplar (lat. Populus tremula) is a species of common deciduous trees of the Dicotyledonous class, order Malpighiaceae, Willow family, Poplar genus. Limited common names: Judas tree, Osyka, Whispering tree.

International scientific name: Populus tremula Linnaeus, 1753

Synonyms:

Populus australis Ten.

Populus bonatii H.Lev.

Populus duclouxiana Dode

Populus microcarpa Hook.f. & Thomson ex Hook.f.

Populus pseudotremula N.I. Rubtzov

Populus repanda Baumg.

Populus rotundifolia Griff.

Populus villosa Lang

Tremula vulgaris Opiz

English titles: Aspen, Common Aspen, European Aspen.

German titles: Espe, Aspe, Zitterpappel.

Security status: According to the IUCN Red List (version 3.1), aspen is considered to be of Least Concern (LC).

Etymology of the name, or why the aspen tree trembles

A characteristic feature of aspen is its very mobile, fluttering leaves. Because of this, in Latin it was called “quivering poplar.” It's all about very long petioles, very flattened at the top. Because of them, the leaves are unstable and at the slightest movement of air they begin to oscillate and tremble. With a stronger wind blowing, the petiole turns along with the leaf blade. By the way, from the inside out, the aspen leaf is not green, but greenish-brown, so it seems that the tree is changing color.

The name “aspen” can be traced in both Proto-Slavic and Indo-European languages. According to Hoops, it was borrowed from the Iranian language, according to Pedersen and Liden, from Armenian. Many European and Asian peoples call the tree by similar names. M. Vasmer in the etymological dictionary of the Russian language gives the following examples: “Ukr. aspen, osika, other Russian. aspen, Bulgarian osika (Mladenov 388), Czech. dial osa, osina, slvts. osika, Polish osa, osina, v.-luzh. wosa, wosuna, p.-luzh. wоsa, wоsa “silver poplar” along with the Bulgarian. Yasika "aspen", Serbohorvian Jasika, Slovenian."

What aspen (trembling poplar) looks like: photo and description of the tree

Trembling poplar is a slender, small-leaved tree, up to 35 meters high (according to some sources, up to 40 meters) and with a trunk diameter of up to 1 meter. This is a water- and light-loving, fast-growing plant that can quickly populate areas after logging or fires. The life form of trembling poplar is a tree.

Root

Aspen has a powerful but weak root system. In the first years of a tree's life, taproot growth occurs, but it soon stops. Then comes the development of lateral roots, one part of which goes deep into the soil, and the other is located closer to the surface, in upper layers to a depth of 20 cm. In this case, the lateral branches can diverge from the tree to the sides by 20-35 m, often going beyond the crown projection. In general, 84% of aspen roots are lateral roots, and only a small part reaches a depth of 1-1.5 m. Since the root system is only slightly deepened, the tree can be felled by the wind.

The structure of the aspen root depends on the soil on which it grows. In dark gray loam, the taproot does not form at all; only a surface system is formed. Horizontal roots can reach a length of 19 m. Vertical roots extend from them, the length of which is determined by the nature of the ground, soil and standing depth groundwater. A special type of vertical roots are anchor roots, formed from the so-called root claws located near the trunk.

An interesting feature of aspen is that its young roots, being in close quarters, often grow together with each other and with the roots of other aspens. They seem to form a common root system.

After a tree is cut down, abundant growth (root suckers) develops from root buds in places close to the soil surface. Thin (0.5-2 cm thick) lateral roots of the tree also form frequent shoots. Therefore, groups or groves of aspens growing nearby are a clone of the same tree. Such groups differ greatly in bark color, pubescence, branching pattern, color of young leaves, size and serration of mature leaves, and timing of spring bud burst.

Taken from hosho.ees.hokudai.ac.jp

Trunk and wood

The aspen trunk is smooth, cylindrical, up to 3 m in circumference; in dense forest stands there are almost no branches on it. Aspen belongs to the non-core, scatter-vascular tree species. Her wood white with a greenish tint, moderately soft, light. Small vessels are not visible on its cross section; growth rings are also faintly visible. In not a single cut of an aspen trunk are the pith rays visible. Sometimes in the wood you can see a brownish false core and heart-shaped inclusions in the form of yellow stripes.

Aspen wood is slightly similar to linden wood, including in density. The differences include the narrow medullary rays noticeable in linden, both in radial (better visible) and transverse sections. In longitudinal sections, the surface of linden wood is characteristically shiny and has a pinkish tint, in contrast to the greenish fibers of aspen. The properties of aspen wood are similar to poplar.

Longitudinal and cross cuts show the structure of the wood. Photo credit: Peter Wöhrer, Public domain

Bark aspen is quite smooth. In young trees, and in the upper part of the trunk throughout life, it is silver-gray, dark gray, greenish-gray, almost white (in Mongolia) or light green.

Old trees are easily distinguished by longitudinal dark gray cracks in the bark at the bottom of the trunk.

Along with leaves, aspen bark is a participant in photosynthesis. This property allows you to regulate the carbon balance of the trunk in the absence or insufficient number of leaves.

Crown

In young trees the crown shape is narrow-conical, in old trees it is often ovoid or round. Despite the fact that the aspen crown is powerful, it looks openwork and lets in a lot of light. This is because the branches are arranged in a spiral relative to the trunk, and light penetrates into the inner part of the crown.

Buds and leaves

The leaf arrangement of aspen is regular. The leaf buds are large, up to 3 mm thick and up to 10 mm long, oblong, conical or ovoid, with characteristic weakly expressed ribbing. Hard to the touch, slightly sticky.

Young buds are slightly pubescent, later become bare, the color ranges from yellow-brown to reddish-brown, sometimes with a greenish tint. The lateral buds are tight-fitting.

The leaves of young and young shoots are very different from the leaves of shortened shoots on the crown.

• On shortened shoots, the leaves are large, dense, and loosely pubescent. Leaf blades are 3-8 cm long and wide, round or triangular-ovate, smooth, slightly pointed or rounded, dark green above, grayish below. The venation of the plates is pinnate. Along the edge they are slightly thickened, coarsely toothed, crenate-notched. The aspen petiole is elastic, long, flattened, thinner in the middle, pubescent in spring, smooth the rest of the time. It is thanks to this feature of the petiole that the aspen leaves tremble at the slightest air movement, which gave the aspen Latin name tremula, which means "trembling".
• On young shoots, the leaf blades are ovoid or triangular-elliptical, up to 12-15 cm long. Their base is heart-shaped, the apex is pointed, the petiole is rounded or slightly flattened. Often at the base of the leaf blade there is a pair of large glands.

The photo shows what aspen leaves look like. On the left are the leaves of an adult tree, on the right is the leaf of a young aspen. Photo credit: MPF, CC BY-SA 3.0

Aspen becomes covered with soft green leaves in early May, but soon, after a month, the leaves grow and become coarser. The vegetation cycle of a tree depends on the type of soil: on clay soils it is longer than on sandy soils, the leaves bloom earlier and fall later.

Leaves are formed within 20 days, the entire cycle from the beginning of leaf blossoming to their complete falling lasts 145 days, and the time from the beginning of yellowing of leaves to their falling is 22 days. Aspen leaves turn not only yellow in autumn, but also purple. Fallen leaves remain flat, do not warp, and a dense layer of litter is formed.

Unlike other poplars, aspen buds and leaves do not produce resin.

Aspen blossom

Aspen is a dioecious tree, that is, on some plants only male (staminate) flowers appear, on others - female (pistillate), and there are much more males in nature than females. Flower buds develop on last year's annual shoots. They are 1.5-2 times thicker than leaf ones (up to 6 mm), reach 13 mm in length, slightly ovoid, almost spherical, rounded at the apex. Covered with shiny brown-red integumentary scales. Towards the end of winter, flower buds crack, releasing white hairs of bract scales.

The flower buds of females are usually smaller and thinner, and their tips are more pointed. They contain many phenolic compounds, and the percentage of their content depends on the stage of bud development. Kidneys contain the most phenolic compounds, flavonoids and phenolcarboxylic acids. initial stage of its development.

In males, flower buds also produce a flavonoid compound that is not present in the buds of females. In autumn, the percentage of phenolic compounds decreases, and in winter increases again.

Aspen begins to bloom at 10-20 years of age. This happens in early spring, in April, before the leaves bloom. From the flower buds, multi-flowered hanging spike-shaped inflorescences and earrings, from 4 to 15 cm long, develop. They contain both female and male flowers.

Men's earrings are larger, multi-colored, pendulous, with a long hairy axis, similar to large ones. Female ones are thin, with pear-shaped ovaries and a hair-axis. The flowers are located in the axils of the bracts, which are barely noticeable shields with jagged, heavily jagged edges. On the blades or teeth of these scutes there are an abundance of hairs, and since each hair covers a large number of scutes, the inflorescences appear fluffy. These scutes are very diverse, so different forms Aspen flower catkins have noticeable differences in appearance.

On the left are women's aspen earrings, on the right are men's. Photo by: Kruczy89, CC BY-SA 3.0

The composition of the female flower includes: bract scales, perianth in the shape of an obliquely cut glass, in which sits a light green conical bare ovary. The ovary has two purple stigmas and a short style. The male flower in the perianth contains from 4 to 12 (according to other sources up to 29) stamens, which are located on a disk in the shape of an obliquely cut saucer.

The anthers of the stamens are bilocular and acquire a bright purple color when they reach full development. Drying out, the anthers turn pale, the catkins fall off, and the tree waits a long time for leaves to appear.

Pistillate catkins lose only the bract scales, while the inflorescence axis lengthens and the developing infructescence turns green. Since aspen prepares flower buds for next year in the previous summer, in winter it is possible to determine what gender the trees are. You need to take a flower bud, clean it of integumentary scales, then, separating several flowers from the earring, examine them with a strong magnifying glass.

• If the tree is male, the flower has a cone-shaped, transparent yellowish perianth, the rudiments of anthers in the form of transparent, also yellowish “eggs” inside it.
• Flower female tree contains in the perianth one ovary with a stigma primordium in the form of a pupa, which is wrapped in the perianth.

Part of the male inflorescence (anthers and bracts). Photo by: Vladimir Bryukhov, All rights reserved

If the aspen is severely affected by the fungus, it begins to bloom one to two weeks late. Also, in the affected tree, compared to a healthy one, weak flowering and fruiting are noted.

Common aspen is pollinated by wind. Pollen is characterized by a yellowish or milky color. Pollen grains are round and smooth, easily remain in the air and scatter up to 90 m into the distance, up to 10 m in height. They disperse most intensively during the day in the middle of the day. Most pollen grains can be found at a distance of about 8 m from the tree. The grain size is 25-30 nm. Landing on the stigma of a female flower, which is covered with droplets of sticky liquid, the grain quickly begins to germinate; soon the pollen tube penetrates the ovary, reaches the ovule, and thus fertilization occurs. Pollen grains on the stigmas of aspen flowers germinate within an hour after pollination.

Botanical illustration from O. W. Thome's book Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885. Public domain

Fruits and seeds

Aspen fruits are bivalve multi-seeded capsules that ripen 20-25 days after pollination. They are small, narrow and smooth.

Aspen seeds are small, without endosperm.

Endosperm is the storage tissue in plant seeds.

The seeds have downy “volatiles” in the form of a tuft of hairs. The wind easily carries them over long distances. The shape of the seeds is pear-shaped, they are very small (1000 pieces weigh on average only 0.12 g), consist of an outer shell and an embryo, color - from yellowish-white or greenish-gray to reddish-brown. They are weak and short-lived. After falling, aspen seeds lose their viability within a few days. They can germinate only if they immediately fall on moist soil. But the sprout is no longer able to overcome the layer of fallen leaves.

Where does common aspen grow?

Aspen is one of the most common light-loving trees in the Northern Hemisphere. This is a forest species that forms pure or mixed with other tree species. Grows with, fir, less often with. With birches it forms aspen-birch tufts, with Siberian fir (lat. Abies sibirica) – black taiga. Aspens also form monoculture forests (aspen forests). Unlike other poplars, they do not colonize floodplain soils and cannot tolerate shade. They are more often found on the edges, clearings and among windbreaks, in clearings and burnt areas, as the beginning of forest regeneration, playing an important role in forest formation.

View Populus tremula grows almost throughout Europe, with the exception of desert and tundra zones, as well as a strip of Mediterranean vegetation. In the Alps, the plant rises to a height of up to 2000 m. There is aspen in the Caucasus, Central and Asia Minor, the Tien Shan, throughout non-Arctic Siberia, Far East Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Japan, the mountains of China and North Africa (Algeria). A significant part of the aspen range is in Russia, where the tree is distributed almost everywhere.

Countries where aspen grows:

Austria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Gibraltar, Holland, Greece, Georgia, Denmark (including the Faroe Islands), Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, Mongolia, Norway, Isle of Man, Poland, Portugal (including Azores), Russia (including Crimea), Romania, Serbia (including Kosovo), Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia, Japan.

IN North America growing related species this tree called aspen poplar (lat. Populus tremuloides) with more coarsely toothed leaves. Common aspen does not grow in America.

When does aspen grow and bear fruit?

From the lateral roots of the aspen shoots grow abundantly, with the help of which it mostly reproduces, although it also has developed seed reproduction. Offspring aspen trees live off the mother's root for 5-7 years, and only after this period they begin to form their own root system. Seed aspens grow more slowly than clones, but over time they catch up in growth.

The trembling poplar begins to bloom, bear fruit and produce seeds at 10-20 years of age. The earliest flowering was observed in a cultivated tree at the age of 5 years. Since aspen is a wind-pollinated plant, it blooms in late April - early May, before its leaves bloom. Seeds begin to fall at the end of May. Aspen produces a lot of seeds, up to half a billion per hectare, but most of them die from lack of moisture, shading by grasses and for other reasons. Only a few specimens germinate. But in seeds that fall into favorable conditions, on the surface of moist soil, where there are no other plants, green cotyledons appear within 8-10 hours.

After 1-2 days they unfold, the subcotyledonous knee extends, it forms a short root that carries a brush of root hairs in the form of a belt in place of the root neck. With the help of root hairs, the seedling absorbs water. At first, the root does not go deep into the soil, and the seedlings remain very small and vulnerable. If the soil surface dries out or, conversely, is too wet, they will die. Fungal diseases are also very dangerous for young seedlings. But if the soil surface is properly moistened, the root begins to grow quickly after 10-15 days.

If growth conditions are ideal, in three months the shoot can grow up to 30 cm. At 20 years old, aspen reaches 10 meters in height, and by 40 years it has grown to its maximum possible size. The tree does not live long, on average up to 80-90 years, but some individuals live up to 150 years.

Aspen forms and hybrids

Based on morphological characteristics, the main one of which is the structure of the leaves, aspen is sometimes classified as a separate section of poplars. It also includes David’s aspen (lat. Populus tremula var. davidiana, syn. Populus davidiana), growing in the Russian Far East and being a variety of common aspen.

Trees growing in different conditions, are slightly different. Varieties of aspen differ in the color of the bark, the time of leaf bloom, and the structure of the crown (weeping and pyramidal shapes).

The pyramidal form of aspen is Erecta. Photo credit: Abc10, CC BY-SA 3.0

The weeping form of aspen is Pendula. Taken from www.esveld.nl

There are also several hybrids of aspen with trees from the poplar genus:

• In 1966, a hybrid of trembling poplar (lat. Populus tremula) and aspen poplar (lat. Populus tremuloides) – Populus ×wettsteinii .

• Graying poplar (gray) (lat. Populus × canescens) – a hybrid of white (silver) poplar (lat. Populus alba) and aspen (lat. Populus tremula).

The polyploid, or rather triploid, form of aspen (lat. Populus tremula gigas), which is also called triploid giant aspen. Her chromosome set is 3n=57, in contrast to the normal diploid 2n=38.

Ploidy is the number of sets of chromosomes contained in a cell or in all cells of a multicellular organism, characteristic of all individuals of a given species.

The triploid variety significantly exceeds ordinary aspens in height and trunk thickness. Its wood is of higher quality and less susceptible to rotting. The form grows successfully with trees such as elm, maple and linden, while ordinary aspen is suppressed by them. The polyploid form of aspen was first discovered in nature in 1935 by Swedish professor H. Nilsson-Ehle.

How to distinguish alder from aspen?

For those who have ever seen these trees, it is not difficult to distinguish them. For those who don't know, the following tips will help.

• Leaves

Examine the leaves. If they are almost round with a straight or jagged edge, on long petioles, and tremble at the slightest breeze, then this is aspen. Alder leaves are jagged and their shape is closer to oval.

• Bark

Aspen bark is smooth, greenish-gray with blue. In alder it cracks and peels off. The color of the bark of different types of alder differs. It is dark brown, almost black in black alder, gray in gray alder.

• Wood

Aspen wood is white with a greenish tint. In alder it is reddish.

• Fruit

They also differ in fruits. The aspen fruit has a multi-seeded capsule, while the alder fruit has a single-seeded nut that looks like a cone.

How to distinguish linden from aspen?

• Bark

Linden bark is dark gray or even almost black with veins. Aspen bark is smooth, grayish-greenish with a bluish tint.

• Leaves

Linden leaves are heart-shaped, light or dark green, and may be bluish underneath. Their petioles are shorter in length than those of aspen. Aspen leaf blades are 3-8 cm long and wide, they are round or triangular-ovate, smooth, slightly pointed or rounded, dark green above, grayish below.

• Flowers

Linden blooms in early summer, aspen in early spring. Linden flowers are fragrant, creamy, collected in umbrella-shaped inflorescences of 5-10 pieces. Aspen inflorescences have catkins.

• Fruit

The linden fruit is nut-shaped, the aspen fruit is a dry capsule.