Populus tremula - Aspen

This image I took of an Aspen in Highfield has the leaves of a white poplar due to the fact that poplars hybridise naturally in the wild – which therefore makes it difficult to determine a true aspen in the natural setting. Populus are deciduous trees, mostly very fast growing and large, with male and female catkins on separate trees, opening before the leaves. The male catkins are the more ornamental, whereas the female catkins can be a nuisance from the cottony, wind-blown seeds. Aspen is best known for its fluttering leaves, which rustle in the slightest breeze. It has a smooth and greyish green bark which becomes brown, ridged and fissured with age.