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aisling-saoirse · 20 hours
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Forgotten ceremonial stone landscape, New Jersey
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aisling-saoirse · 22 hours
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Beaver Dam and Flooded Roadway, Hewitt, NJ - March 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 22 hours
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Red Maple Swamp taking over former pasture, Hewitt, NJ
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aisling-saoirse · 22 hours
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Drone Shot of a Red Maple Swamp, Beech Farm, New Jersey
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aisling-saoirse · 1 day
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Beech Brook, Hewitt, NJ - March 26th 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 1 day
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Motorcycle in the woods, Hewitt, NJ - March 27th 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 2 days
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Quaking Aspen - Populus tremuloides
Today I want to bring up a charismatic favorite: the Quaking Aspen. Like all populus species, it's a fast growing, clonal colony forming, northern extreme and mountain loving tree (just like its Eurasian sister species: A. tremula) with an incredibly wide range of distribution. In addition to all those interesting qualities, the oldest known organism is presumed to be a Quaking Aspen colony (Pando, in Utah)
General identification before I can talk about the more interesting bits, Aspens are best known for their yellow autumn leaves and smooth white bark with dark knots, they can grow as large as 60' but depending on their environment can be stunted to around 5-20' (think of krummholz). Leaves of this species appear slightly heart shaped and retain the same sheen on both sides (image 1). Plants are unisexual meaning individuals either have male or female flowers, interestingly enough this is a good method to distinguish where one colony begins and ends by looking at the color of the branches in spring (see image from Colorado below, note trees with light green and those without). Emerging catkins are white at first which become green and longer as the season changes, male catkins having slightly longer stamen but female fruiting catkins ultimately growing longest at 10 cm. Seeds are small capsules with silky hairs to assist in wind dispersion, these trees are ruderal so they produce around 1.6 Million a season with many unable to germinate. Seedlings often need consistent moisture and full sun to even germinate, most of the seeds growth goes to root structure the first year.
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The name Quaking Aspen (or trembling per the Latin) refers to the extremely mobile habit of the leaf. Leaves are connected to flexible petioles (stems) which flip around in the slightest breeze. Environmentally speaking, I was once told that leaves have chlorophyll on both sides however this stem could also be a biological strategy to cope with harsh wind conditions in mountainous environments, I didn't encounter any recent research verifying this though. Interestingly enough, given the harsh nature of which this tree thrives, apparently, there is chlorophyll in its trunk, allowing extra energy to enter the tree when it's leaves are gone.
Quaking Aspen is an early succession species, able to reestablish/colonize a site after a fire or other major disturbance. Many of Upstate New York's famous Aspen forests are actually a result of logging and fires in the early 1900s rather than a typical forest compostion. Establishment is different depending on opportunity, in the west its often long lived clonal roots systems, in the high arctic its often through wind blown seed, in the east its generally short lived clones out-competed by hardwood/conifer forest after a century, and in its furthest southeastern range I typically only encounter individuals on rocky outcrops or former fields.
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Above ground trees usually live less than a century, in the east maybe 50-80 years given our moisture, out west individual trunks can live two centuries. It's common to find dense forests with even-age trees since clonal root structures re-emerge together (Image above from Bluebell Knoll Mountain in Utah). Its also thought that the root system can live for two millenia or longer, Pando being an example of extreme longevity (I mean 40,000 years would survive an ice age, even in Utah there would be mountain glaciation, thats quite spectacular if true). Ironically, one of the best survival tools in the Aspen's playback is fire recovery, otherwise it will get out-competed/shaded pretty fast (see the context in image 2, that NJ forest used to have lots of aspen).
All this in mind its good to point out that Aspen's early successional habit makes it great for ecological restoration. It's common to find them as the first pioneers on former mines or superfund sites (aspen grove below from Palmerton gap, Pennsylvania). Unfortunately one of the negative side affects is that populus species often bring up a lot of heavy metals in their leaves and wood meaning they can re-contaminate through their own biological accumulation. Which is good for extracting small scale contaiminants...very bad for large sites where you need to trap metal under soil to prevent toxins from eroding offsite
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All this being said Quaking Aspen's large geographic range mirrors that of the last glacial maximum, implying a rapid spread onto retreating glaciers. This also suggests a growth habit requiring wet or moist soil conditions. This range is North West to Alaska nearly touching the Arctic Ocean at its Northern-most range in the Yukon, then east to Newfoundland; south west to Mexico (usually restricted to high mountains) and east from Iowa to New Jersey (with scattered populations in West Virginia).
Since Aspen often colonizes sites of former glaciation, with climate change it's predicted there will be a northward and uphill progression of populations. Aspen isn't really in intense danger of dissappearing but studies have shown major stressors (draught, extreme heat, over-grazing) cause higher mass-mortality events from minor stressors (typically disease and insect herbivorey). Given the fact that many forests are clonal there was a question of low genetic diversity amoung populations, yet interestingly, individuals undergo somatic mutations (DNA alterations after conception) and are extremely variable, so different individuals often place different energies into different defense tactics.
In addition to all of this information Aspens are primarily used today to make paper pulp. Historically settlers used aspen to derive quinine (think gin and tonic), and indigenous tribes have a history of using big trunks to create dug out canoes.
So please go out to your nearest mountain/boreal forest to enjoy the Quaking Aspen's lovely smooth bark and haunting shaking in the wind!
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aisling-saoirse · 7 days
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Acer saccharinum - Silver Maple
Today's plant profile is on a controversial favorite of mine, the silver maple.
This tree is reviled or loved depending on who you talk to, although it is naturally found in riparian and wetland zones the silver maple can thrive in dry, polluted, and urban environments; therefore it is extremely adaptable to a wide variety of soil conditions. Maples are usually thought of as a secondary growth forest species able to survive under shade, however silvers like a little more sunlight and are often found on forest edges.
You can identify a silver maple by its broken looking shaggy bark which is smooth silver brown when young. Most identifiable are the leaves which are symmetrical with 5-7 lobes and slightly toothed and fairly large (image 4-courtesy of inaturalist). In spring, red buds turn to young red flowers around march (image 2). Soon they turn into hairy green-silver developing fruit (image 3) which usually end up being a reddish-light green samara (the helicopter seedling) that are enjoyed by birds and squirrels. Usually the tree produces a lot, expect a lot of seedlings in sunny wet areas. All of those images are taken outside of my apartment window. I must note that occasionally silver maples retain seedlings during winter, this is another way to identify them (its not universal for some reason, haven't seen writting on this).
Given the harsh conditions of which it can survive its no surprise that the tree often grows into twisted, easily broken, messy forms. Branches often break off in storms and it's common for parts of trunks to die off and sprout again. In addition to that, urban dwellers hate the surface exploratory nature of its root system which kicks up sidewalk.
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Personally I find this vigorous nature appealing as, if I may be quite blunt, this tree is indestructible. I've seen this tree survive 4 feet of rushing water (below) and an ash trunk fall ontop of it (above), this is no quitter. You may also notice in my images the silver maples are growing in a thicket of bamboo...they can be competitive against more aggressive invasives. This makes them great for restoration projects, given our higher frequency of heavy precipitation events due to accelerated global warming, they can survive instability.
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This species is extremely common and native to the entirety of eastern North America above the Florida panhandle. It has been planted as a street tree all over the world, sometimes hybridized with other maples (typically acer rubrum).
Ethnobotanically, like many eastern wetland species, silver maple is seen as a medicinal plant by multiple indigenous tribes (given its range this includes numerous of groups). Some research discusses hot water infusions of bark as a treatment for common stomach ailments (sometimes as a tea as well). I only have experience with its sugary sap, nearly all maples have sweet sap which can be transformed into syrup, this isn't as good as sugar maple sap but it is possible. Additionally, silver maple is an excellent tree for pollarding, indigenous groups and settlers alike use the prolific branch growth for basket making.
In terms of propagating silver maples, I have never has anyone ask me to, seedlings will take off on any wet site. I believe you can also propagate branch cuttings from new growth taken during mid-summer months, I haven't personally tried this yet.
So that was the story of Silver Maple, look out for its unique leaves and keep in mind that even the ugliest trees can surprise us.
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aisling-saoirse · 8 days
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Some pages from my sketchbook when I was in the Southwest
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aisling-saoirse · 9 days
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Flowering Quince in West Philadelphia - March 17th 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 10 days
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Mourning Cloaks, Hewitt, NJ - March 8th 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 10 days
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Flooded mineshaft, Hewitt, NJ - March 8th 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 10 days
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Sinkhole from Former Mine, Hewitt, NJ - March 8th 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 10 days
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Stream on Mountain Slope, Hewitt, NJ - March 8th 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 10 days
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Various Trail Trees in Hewitt, NJ
1 + 3. Betula lenta (Sweet Birch)
2. Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Poplar)
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aisling-saoirse · 10 days
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Bent Tulip Polar and Hemlock, NJ - March 8th 2024
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aisling-saoirse · 10 days
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Mossy Vernal Pool, Hewitt, NJ - March 8th 2024
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