Holy Quaking Aspen!

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the_dude

Feeling the Heat
Hearth Supporter
Feb 26, 2008
300
Southern WI
I noticed these trees a few miles from my house the other day (southern WI) and I had to go back and snap a couple of pics. I'm nearly positive they are Quaking Aspen, although I have never seen any even close to this size. I did some poking around on the internet, and supposedly the national record tree is in Montana and is 30" in diameter and 140 some feet tall. I don't think these are nearly that tall, but the one further back in the picture has to have a 4 to 5 foot diameter. I have never seen Aspen with such massive crowns either.

A whole lot of sub par firewood, I know, but I thought you guys might enjoy seeing them.
 

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the_dude said:
I noticed these trees a few miles from my house the other day (southern WI) and I had to go back and snap a couple of pics. I'm nearly positive they are Quaking Aspen, although I have never seen any even close to this size. I did some poking around on the internet, and supposedly the national record tree is in Montana and is 30" in diameter and 140 some feet tall. I don't think these are nearly that tall, but the one further back in the picture has to have a 4 to 5 foot diameter. I have never seen Aspen with such massive crowns either.

A whole lot of sub par firewood, I know, but I thought you guys might enjoy seeing them.

Those are some huge trees, nice pictures.

zap
 
The Dude....love the name! I was a freshman in college, long hair, and apparently I had developed a gut similar to Jeff Bridges in the movie (which was not a good thing when you are on a Division I soccer team). I went to a party one night that the team was having, and the upper classmen said, "From now on your name is 'The Dude' and you are drinnking nothing but white russians all night." I was clueless as I had yet to see the movie and I didn't even know what a white russian was made of. After I saw the milk, I tried explaining to them that I was lactose intolerant, but it was no use. Needless to say it was a long night and the nickname stuck. 8 years out of school and they still call me, "The Dude". And, I just got home from bowling too...
 
Those are not Quaking Aspen. Quaking Aspen never get that large, nor have that many branches. I think those might be a tree called Balm of Gilead, which is closely related to Quaking Aspen. The whitish bark with black 'chevrons' on the upper parts of the tree seem to suggest Balm of Gilead. I think there are several other closely related trees that these might be.
 
Wood Duck said:
Those are not Quaking Aspen. Quaking Aspen never get that large, nor have that many branches. I think those might be a tree called Balm of Gilead, which is closely related to Quaking Aspen. The whitish bark with black 'chevrons' on the upper parts of the tree seem to suggest Balm of Gilead. I think there are several other closely related trees that these might be.

Balm of Gilead comes from Balsam Popler tree. I looked up balsam popler, and they don't look like the trees I pictured above. I would not be surprised if they are not quaking aspen, but I don't believe they are balsam popler either. I will wait until they leaf out and then take a drive with my tree id book.
 
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