# 152
Aspen
many stems, yet one
the roots seem to transcend time
hear! the aspen speaks
Beautiful.
And you may think you’re looking at some aspen trees, but you’d be wrong. This is ONE aspen tree. The individual trees are called “stems” of one root system that is a unity, genetically.
As a matter of fact there is an aspen tree that, because of it’s unique makeup, is the largest and oldest tree in the world.
Pando (from Latin pando ‘I spread’)[1] is the name of a quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) clone located in Sevier County, Utah, United States, in the Fishlake National Forest. A male clonal organism, Pando has an estimated 47,000 stems (ramets) that appear to be individual trees but are genetically identical parts of a single tree connected by a root system that spans 42.8 ha (106 acres). As a multi-stem tree, Pando is the world’s largest tree by measures of weight, landmass and species. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree)
The root system is estimated to be several thousand years old, with some sources suggesting a maximum age of 14,000 to16,000 years, Holy cow!
Write a haiku about the quaking aspen. If this is your first introduction to this unique form of life, Google it and enjoy. Share your haiku in a comment.
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Spider roots crawl under
Birthing stems woven voices
Breath…brazen yellow
FTG🧡
**Fluttering leaves quake
White trunks anchored to earth
A network of life**
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Aspen are abundant here in Colorado.
They are amazing trees.
I actually harvest the white dust off of their trunks. It is a yeast that you can incubate and make bread with.
In the wild They are a single organism.
You can still transplant them though too. Kind of continues the lineage of the species.
In the fall the leaves here go from green to yellow to rusty reds.