More about aspen trees...

I have already written about these slender broadleaf trees of the Rocky Mountain, perhaps better known for their golden autumn foliage. They grows at elevations between 6,500 to 11,000 and usually in groves. They commonly grows to 20 to 60 feet in height and less than 20 inches in diameter, but a few reach 100 feet in height and 3 feet in diameter. Individual Aspen trees are relatively short-lived, rarely exceeding 100 years; they're easily damaged by fire, wind, and a very large number of kinds of insects, fungi, and animals. Most of the trees that are around our house and in our area are Aspens. This week, they are trying to have sex and are “snowing cotton” like we've rarely seen it. Around noon, the air around the house really looks like a snowstorm and as we're eating lunch outside, the large flakes land in our plates or into our glasses. All that work might very well be in vain because the seeds hardly ever germinate and grow; the sprouts growing from the root are the tree real reproductive tool... Well, I didn't see much sex in all of that; just a great deal of natural fibers!