Stand tall Aspens

by Ruth Jolly

Title

Stand tall Aspens

Artist

Ruth Jolly

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

We took a ride up to Flagstaff from the valley to see the beautiful Aspen in the winter. The aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. They are all medium-sized deciduous trees reaching 15-30 m (49-98 ft) tall.
All Aspens typically grow in large clonal colonies, derived from a single seedling, and spread through root suckers; new stems in the colony may appear at up to 30-40 m (98-130 ft) the parent tree. Each tree can live for 40-150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived. In some cases, this is for thousands of years, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground. For this reason, it is considered to be an indicator of ancient woodlands. Given the nickname of "Pando, " one such colony in Utah is estimated to be 80,000 years old, making it possibly the oldest living colony of aspens. Some aspen colonies become very large with time, spreading about 1 m (3.3 ft) per year, eventually covering many hectares. They can survive forest fires, because the roots are below the heat of the fire, with new sprouts growing after the fire burns out.
Aspens do not thrive in the shade, and it is difficult for seedlings to grow in an already mature aspen stand. Fire indirectly benefits aspen trees, since it allows the saplings to flourish in open sunlight in the burned landscape. Lately, aspens have increased in popularity in forestry, mostly because of their fast growth rate and ability to regenerate from sprouts, making reforestation after harvesting much cheaper, since no planting or sowing is required. In contrast with many trees, aspen bark is base-rich, meaning aspens are important hosts for bryophytes. They can survive forest fires, because the roots are below the heat of the fire, with new sprouts growing after the fire burns out. Fine Art America watermark will not appear on purchased artwork.

aspen, flagstaff, arizona, seasons, bark, tree bark, tree trunks, nature, winter, seasons, black and white aspen, black and white, ruth jolly

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February 27th, 2013

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