Populus tremula
Specifications
Family
Salicaceae
Species
Populus tremula L.
european aspen
Description
The sapwood is whitish and the heartwood tends toward brown, with a medium texture and straight grain, and a density ranging from 0.40 to 0.63. It has fair mechanical strength but poor resistance to fungal attack. Drying must be done slowly to avoid cracking and collapse.
Plant morphology
The aspen can reach 25 m in height, with a mostly straight and slender trunk with smooth gray-green or gray-whitish bark with large lenticels. The crown is rounded, and the leaves of the growing branches are triangular-ovate with a truncated or cordate base, a long cylindrical petiole and a pointed apex. The leaves of the flowering branches are glabrous on both sides, sub-orbicular, with a petiole compressed perpendicular to the lamina, rounded at the apex, glaucous-green, and paler beneath. It is a dioecious tree; the male flowers, borne in curved catkins, are large and covered with thick, long, gray-white hairs, with purplish stamens and anthers; the female catkins are longer, equally hairy, with strongly incised bracts and a green ovary with two red stigmas. The fruit consists of a conical capsule containing numerous seeds.
Natural occurrence
Countries of origin and distribution
Eurasian; also present to a limited extent in the mountains of North Africa.
Habitat and ecology
It is the most mountainous of the native poplars, growing from the basal level up to about 2,000 meters above sea level. It thrives in various environments and a wide range of climatic conditions, in good light. On disturbed slopes that allow light to penetrate, it can form pure stands, but it also grows in mixed stands alongside Scots pine and birch. The aspen frequently hybridizes with the silver poplar, producing individuals that are more vigorous than the parent trees. This species is also of considerable ecological importance for various lichens, invertebrates, and birds, with which it forms species-specific relationships.
Uses
Use class
CU1
CU2
CU3
CU4
CU5
Application areas
It is used for ordinary carpentry, plywood, matches.
Threats and Conservation
Threats
In some areas of its range, the species is threatened by urban and agricultural expansion. It is susceptible to attacks by the fungal pathogen Phenillus tremulaei, which causes the tree to die; aspen is an intermediate host for Melamspora pinitorqua, which, as a terminal host, attacks Scots pine. Chinese populations are susceptible to attacks by the Asian longhorn beetle.
Conservation measures
It is preserved in 81 ex situ collections (BGCI 2017).
IUCN Red List
IUCN
LC - Least Concern - Low Risk
CITES. Year of assessment
CITES
2017
1975
2050
CITES Italia • Ultimo aggiornamento
2017
Not present.
Technical data
Aesthetic characteristics
Grain
Slightly obvious
Texture
Coarse, Fine
Physical and mechanical properties
Density
ρ
ρ
510
kg/m3
Radial shrinkage
Rad. sh.
Rad. sh.
Medium
Tangential shrinkage
Tang. sh.
Tang. sh.
Medium
Bending strength
M.O.R.
M.O.R.
77
MPa
Durability characteristics
Fungal resistance
Not durable
Insect resistance
Not resistant