Bigtooth Aspen

Latin: Populus grandidentata

Family: Salicaceae

Description - a rounded, open crown made up of few branches. Rapid growth provides quick cover.

 

Leaf - egg shaped with ~10 large teeth per side. Stalk is laterally flattened and, like the trembling aspen, the leaves swing back and forth in a breeze.

 

Bark - smooth and green to grey, turning dark brown with deep fissures when mature.

 

Bud - terminal, hairy, grey, non-sticky, and non-fragrant.

 

Twig - hairy when young, later turning reddish brown with orange. Made of rough, cork like structures (lenticels).

 

Flower - downy catkins.

 

Fruit - downy capsules in drooping catkins. Capsules split in two releasing seeds with a plume of white hairs.

 

Wildlife Value - deer and rabbits eat the new shoots, songbirds eat buds and catkins, a favourite of beaver.