tree is 20 - 30 m high, crown broadly ovate to spherical sparse
bark is long smooth, greenish-gray
in the middle to lower part of the trunk there are rhombic lenticels
at the base of the trunk there is deeply cracked, dark gray to blackish bork
Buds
they are spiral, sessile, oblong-ovate to conical, long sharply pointed
multiple shell scales, brown glossy
flower ones are wider and larger, leafy are 8 - 10 x 4 - 5 mm large
Shoots
they are yellow-brown to reddish-brown, glossy
on older branches there is a large formation of brachyblasts (flower buds are
Leaves (assimilation organs)
they are simple, solid sheets
on macroblasts they are 6 - 10 x 4 - 9 cm in size, ovoid (rhombic) to round, short-pointed serrated along the edge
on brachyblasts, the leaves are smaller and ± round, variable in shape
dark green, glossy top
peduncle is 3 - 7 cm long, compressed from the sides (the leaves then flutter in the wind - this is where the expression "you shake like an aspen" comes from)
Flowers
dioecious tree species
they are catkin-like, pendulous
it blooms in III – IV before leaf development
Fruits – seeds
the fruit is a capsule
the pods are arranged in long pendulous fringed broods
Extension
originally throughout Europe, North Africa, Siberia
in Slovakia from lowlands up to 1,100 (1,425) m above the sea level, mainly in open areas, clearings
Ecology
it is a light-loving woody plant resistant to frost
it grows from dry sands to peat bogs
it grows best on moist, humous soils
it quickly spreads to open areas
in lazy potash it is an interspersed woody plant
Significance
it is important pioneering and ameliorative tree species (also preparatory)
it improves the soil with fallout - mainly in worse habitats
it excels in high root sprouting !
the wood is light – sapwood, soft, suitable for the production of cellulose, sauna compresses, matches
it is a distinctive landscape-forming element in the autumn months
