Aspen

The Aspen is fairly widespread but not common.

It can be seen on some remote and windswept coasts and mountains, but is only common in parts of the Central Highlands, notably lower Speyside and Upper Deeside. Its Gaelic name ‘Crithean’ – pronounced something like ‘creen’ – is seen in place names such as Blarcreen,and Sron a Crithean. It is usually quite small, five or six metres high with a trunk less than half a metre across,but there are Aspens on Speyside that are almost twice this height and girth. The bark ‘rùisg’- in Gaelic - is pale grey and smooth, with little diamond-shaped marks, and sometimes pale brown and rough on older specimens. They are upright and towering, and are usually found in dense clusters, young trees formed by sucker growth from the roots of the parent trees. This is their common form of spreading, and regeneration by seed is rare as production of flowers is sparse. The flowers are curly catkins – ‘caitean’ in Gaelic - silvery blue on the female treesand silvery red on the male – opening in March, ahead of the leaves. During the Winter the leaf buds – in Gaelic ‘gucagan’ - are glossy reddish brown, and pointed and sharp, the sharpness acting like thorns to deter browsing creatures. The leaves – ‘duilleagan’ in Gaelic - begin to grow in late April, soft and pale orange at first, growing rounded and green, with wavy toothed edge, about five leaves on supple stems around the twig, turning a variety of yellows and reds in the Autumn. The Aspen is sometimes called the Quaking Tree. The long supple leaf stems set the leaves trembling in a breeze – hence the botanical name ‘tremula’ - creating a chatter of sound, once thought to invoke visions foretelling the future. The whole tree has an air of mystery about it, and in many places it was never cut or used in any way. Its true that the timber and stems are not particularly useful, but no tree is useless, and it seems that it was taboo to use it because of its strange and sporadic spread,its strange and rare flowering, its chattering leaves.