Trees of the Adirondacks:
Bigtooth Aspen (Populus grandidentata)
Bigtooth Aspen (Populus grandidentata) is a native deciduous tree, which grows throughout northeastern North America, including New York State and the Adirondack Mountains. It is also known as Largetooth Aspen, Poplar, or Popple. It is a member of the Willow family. is a fast-growing, but short-lived, pioneer species, Bigtooth Aspen attains heights of 60 to 80 feet.
Identification of Bigtooth Aspen
Bigtooth Aspen is a fast-growing, but short-lived, pioneer species. Bigtooth Aspen attains heights of 60 to 80 feet and diameters at breast height of eight to ten inches. This species generally has a straight trunk and gently ascending branches. The root system is shallow and wide spreading.
Bigtooth Aspen is a shade-intolerant, early successional species and is relatively short-lived. Although individual specimens can live up to 100 years, most stands of Bigtooth Aspens will begin to deteriorate after sixty to seventy years.
Bigtooth Aspen reproduces from seeds. The seeds are produced from flower clusters, which appear in April or May (depending on temperature) in drooping catkins. The seeds mature in May or June. The tiny, white, wind-borne seeds disperse before the leaves are fully expanded. Good seed crops are produced every 2 or 3 years, but light seed crops are produced annually. Bigtooth Aspen flowers and disperses seeds about one to three weeks later than Quaking Aspen in the same location.
The buds of the Bigtooth Aspen, which are covered by whitish down, open the latest of all native trees in our part of the Adirondacks. Bigtooth leaves generally emerge the first week in June. The oval leaves are simple, alternate, with a short-pointed tip and a rounded base. When they first open in the spring, they are covered by dense whitish hairs, so the trees are very easy to identify at that time. The leaves of Bigtooth Aspen, like those of Quaking Aspen, tremble in the slightest breeze and rustle loudly in wind.
In the autumn, Bigtooth Aspen puts on quite a show as its leaves turn color. Bigtooth Aspen leaves in fall exhibit an amazing color range, including light yellow, bright yellow, gold, bright orange, salmon, and bronze. This species tends to reach peak color in the latter half of the foliage season in our region.
As with many species, the bark appearance of Bigtooth Aspen changes with age.
- Young Bigtooth Aspen trees have light, smooth bark, tan to yellowish or greenish gray. The bark often has an orange cast.
- The bark of a mature Bigtooth Aspen is darker and furrowed, often showing an orangish inner bar.
- As the tree ages further, the bark darkens further, and the furrows deepen. However, the upper trunk and branches retain a smooth and light-colored bark.
Leaf shape is key to distinguishing Bigtooth Aspens from other deciduous trees.
- Bigtooth Aspen leaves are oval, contrasting with the lobed leaves of Sugar Maple, Red Maple, and Striped Maple.
- The large, irregular teeth on the Bigtooth Aspen contrasts with the sharply-toothed leaves of American Beech, Paper Birch, Yellow Birch, and Black Cherry.
Keys to differentiating Bigtooth Aspen from Quaking Aspen include its leaves, bark, and growth habit.
- The leaves of both species tremble in the breeze and are very similar in shape, with rounded teeth. However, the leaves of the Bigtooth Aspen are larger than those of Quaking Aspen and have much larger teeth. Bigtooth Aspen leaves emerge from the bud about ten days later than those of the Quaking Aspen.
- The Bigtooth Aspen is significantly larger than Quaking Aspen. Quaking Aspen trees rarely exceed 20" in diameter, while Bigtooth Aspen may reach 30".
- The bark of young Bigtooth Aspen trees is darker than that of Quaking Aspen. Moreover, the dark bark of mature Bigtooth Aspen contrasts with that of the mature Quaking Aspen, which features blackish furrows and much lighter-colored ridges.
Uses of Bigtooth Aspen
Bigtooth Aspen wood is light-colored, straight-grained, finely-textured, and soft. It is primarily used for pulp. The wood is also used to make particle board and structural panels. Minor uses include log homes, pallets, boxes, match splints, chopsticks, hockey stick components, and ladders. Bigtooth Aspen bark is pelletized for fuel and supplemental cattle feed.
Bigtooth Aspen has a very limited number of edible uses. The inner bark reportedly can be dried, ground into a powder, and used as a thickener in soups. Medicinal uses of Bigtooth Aspen are also limited. Native Americans have reportedly used the bark for treating rheumatism and fevers. The Iroquois are said to have used dust from the bark to relieve itching.
Wildlife Value of Bigtooth Aspen
Bigtooth Aspen provides both food and cover for wildlife. Aspen suckers are a favored winter food of Moose and are browsed by White-tailed Deer. American Beaver eat the bark, leaves, twigs, and branches, and use the branches as construction material for lodges and dams. Cottontail Rabbit and Meadow Vole gnaw on the bark of saplings during the winter. Bigtooth Aspen buds are also eaten by the Fox Squirrel and Red Squirrel. The latter also uses the cavities (which form as the tree grows older) as dens.
Bigtooth Aspen is a host to many kinds of insects. The tree is a caterpillar host for the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, White Admiral, and Modest Sphinx. The caterpillars of the Virgin Moth and other moths also feed on these trees.
Bigtooth Aspen trees are present in the breeding habitat for many birds, including Veery, Mourning Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Canada Warbler, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-eyed Vireo, and Philadelphia Vireo. As a Bigtooth Aspen tree becomes older, it often forms cavities that are used as nest sites by the Red-breasted Nuthatch, owls, and woodpeckers.
The Bigtooth Aspen is particularly important to the Ruffed Grouse. Aspen provides the basic habitat for this bird over much of its range. Ruffed Grouse feed on the leaves in the summer, flower buds in the winter, and catkins prior to the breeding season. The trees also provide crucial cover.
Distribution of Bigtooth Aspen
Bigtooth Aspen primarily occurs in the northeastern United States, southeastern Canada, and the Great Lakes Region. Its range extends from Virginia north to Maine and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; west to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota; south through Iowa to extreme northeastern Missouri; and east through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia.
In New York State, Bigtooth Aspen grows in most counties in the eastern portion of the state. Bigtooth Aspen is present in all counties within the Adirondack Park Blue Line.
Habitat of Bigtooth Aspen
Bigtooth Aspen is a shade-intolerant pioneer species. It cannot successfully reproduce under its own shade. Look for this species in successional forests, after fire or logging. It is also found in successional fields, openings in forests, roadsides, and forest edges, as well as stream banks and openings in forests. While capable of growing on a wide range of sites, Bigtooth Aspen is far less adaptable than Quaking Aspen and is not as abundant. Bigtooth Aspen usually grows in mixed stands, most commonly with Quaking Aspen.
Adirondack Tree List
References
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