This picture of a dense stand of aspen (Populus tremuloides) tree trunks was taken above the Jasper townsite on the road to Patricia Lake and Pyramid Lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta. Stands of aspen are scattered throughout the Canadian Rockies and provide dramatic fall color in September.
Aspens are known by several names, including trembling aspen, quaking aspen, and trembling poplar. The most widely distributed tree in North America, they are found from above the Arctic Circle in Alaska to central Mexico and from coast to coast in the United States and Canada.
Some aspens sprout fom seed, but most are produced by cloning. Probably all the trees in this photo are part of the same clone. Clones are produced as sprouts or suckers from roots. Scientists speculate that some of these clones may be 8000 or more years old. The interconnected trees form the largest organisms on the planet.
Ash Creek Images
Photographs of the West by Doug Gorsline
A Densely Packed Stand of Trembling (or Quaking) Aspen Trunks Above Jasper.
