Description
A deciduous hardwood tree of the willow family, such as Populus tremula (European quaking aspen), P. tremuloides (American quaking aspen) and P. alba (white aspen). Aspen trees are native to northern Europe, Asia and North America. The fast-growing aspen trees have a smooth, pale gray bark and circular leaves with toothed edges. The soft, yellowish-white timber has a uniform, straight grain with almost no distinction between the summerwood and springwood. Aspen poplar wood has large, evenly-distributed pores that produce a soft fibrous texture. It cannot be planed smooth. Aspen wood is easy to work, but weak, prone to warping and produces a disagreeable odor when wet. The lightweight, spongy wood is generally used for matches, excelsior, fruit boxes and paper pulp.
Synonyms and Related Terms
Populus tremula; Populus tremuloides; Populus alba; peuplier tremble (Fr.); Espe (Deut.); Pappel (Deut.); Zitterpappel (Deut.); pioppo tremula (It.); alamo temblon (Esp.); cran critheach (Gaelic); choupo (Port.); aspen poplar; trembling aspen; trembling poplar; quivering aspen; shaking aspen; popple
| specific gravity = 0.45 |
| 28 ppcf |
Other Properties
Freshly cut wood is full of sap and will not float and will not burn.
Light colored. Rings: obscure. Pores:large. Grain:invisible. Rays:obscure. Soft; lightweight; spongy
Additional Information
° Schoch, W., Heller, I., Schweingruber, F.H., Kienast, F., 2004:
Wood anatomy of central European Species: Aspen, Populus tremula L.
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Images
2 total images
Aspen
Image credit: http://www.so-utah.com/photos/aspen.jpg
(Accessed September 16, 2003) |
Aspen (Silver poplar)
(Populus alba)
Photomacrograph of Aspen (Silver poplar) from a set of veneer samples produced by the United States Plywood Corporation. Sample provided by the MFA Scientific Research Lab.
Photo credit: Keith Lawrence, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
Authority
6 total authority records
H.L.Edlin, What Wood is That?, Viking Press, New York, 1969
Materials Handbook, G.S. Brady, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971
comments: p. 75
Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976
Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Random House, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
Gordon Hanlon, contributed information, 1998
Last updated on: 7/4/2009 1:45:03 PM
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