aspen

open main page for all woods open page 2 for articles

NOTE: there is rarely any "standard" or "typical" look for a wood so take what's in this table with a grain of salt
the REST of the pictures on this page will give you a better overall feel for this wood

aspen / Populus spp.
5" x 5" flat cut, 5" x 5" quartersawn, 1" wide end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup.

Diffuse porous with moderately dense small pores uniformly distributed but often in short radial groups of 2 or 3 pores, clear growth ring boundaries generally with some darkening of the tissue at the end of the latewood, rays not visible at 10X, marginal (or seemingly marginal) parenchyma

Populus spp. of the family Fabaceae (syn. Leguminosae) the legume, pea, or bean family. Although there are over 30 species worldwide, from 8 genera, that have the word aspen as all or part of one or more of their common names, It it is my intent that the woods on this page be from the genus Populus. There is some possibility for confusion between the sets of Populus that are normally called cottonwood (or poplar) which has its own page on this site and those that are called aspen, PARTICULARLY since ALL of the species that use the name aspen ALSO use poplar or cottonwood or both (but there are numerous Populus species that use poplar or cottonwood or but but which do NOT use the name aspen). Such is the joy of common wood names. Further discussion can be found on the page for cottonwood.

A note about Populus alba: although Populus alba has been given more names containing the word poplar (black poplar, bolleana poplar, English/European poplar, Lombardy poplar, silver poplar, silver leaf poplar, white poplar) than it has names containing the word aspen (aspen, great aspen, white aspen), AND it is most commonly sold as white poplar, it is none the less genetically closer to the aspens so it is shown on this site on the aspen page.

a note about the genus Populus (IN THE USA) with common names including aspen and poplar (cottonwood)

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions

both sides of a sample plank of aspen ("white poplar") / Populus alba --- HUGE enlargements are present. See the note at the top of the page regarding naming of this species.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above but taken from the other end

both sides of a sample plank of aspen ("white poplar") / Populus alba --- HUGE enlargements are present. See the note at the top of the page regarding naming of this species.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of aspen ("white poplar") / Populus alba --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. See the note at the top of the page regarding naming of this species.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of aspen ("white poplar") / Populus alba --- HUGE enlargements are present. See the note at the top of the page regarding naming of this species.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of European white poplar (=aspen) / Populus alba --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The relatively rich color of the heartwood in this sample is correctly shown.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of bigtooth aspen / Populus grandidentata --- HUGE enlargements are present

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above (the original end grain closeup showed showed nothing but saw marks, as you can see from the end grain pic)

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of bigtooth aspen / Populus grandidentata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor of this piece has it as bigtooth cottonwood, which IS one of its common names but it belongs in the aspen group of Populus spp.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of trembling aspen / Populus tremuloides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Note that this species is also called trembling poplar and MANY other names including both "aspen" and "poplar" and in Canada, where this was labeled, it is called tremble.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- the left side of this update clearly did not get sanded properly but the middle and right are just fine and show the fine grain detail quite clearly.

both sides of a sample plank of quaking aspen / Populus tremuloides --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of quaking aspen / Populus tremuloides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of quaking aspen / Populus tremuloides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of quaking aspen / Populus tremula --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The first side is freshly sanded and the second side is unsanded and with Mark's pencil writing on it.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

two pieces of quaking aspen and end grain of each

both sides of a sample plank of figured quaking aspen / Populus tremuloides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The figure on this piece is a light curl which is more apparent in the wood than it is in the pics

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of figured quaking aspen / Populus tremuloides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor of this piece had it as "quilted" but it is curly at best, not quilted.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of figured quaking aspen / Populus tremuloides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The "figure" is a very light curl which is barely visible in the pics.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

of the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank of figured quaking aspen / Populus tremuloides --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of quaking aspen / Populus spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was contributed to the site by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP

first face and the end grain of a sample of aspen / Populus tremuloides. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION A

the second face, before and after sanding, showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.

first face and the end grain of a sample of silverleaf poplar (=aspen) / Populus alba --- This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION G

the second face, before and after sanding it down a bit, showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

both sides and both ends of a sample piece

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

a set of planks --- except for the first one, each of these images is of a plank section approximately 8" wide by 24" long. The first image is of a section about half that size. I took these in a lumber yard and chose the various pieces to show a good range of grain and color. Both enlargements are available for all of these.

planks shot at LOWES at various times but looking more pink than the wood which was white

planks shot at LOWES at various times

long piece of flat cut veneer and closeup of same --- the yellow on the distance pic is not correct --- the closeup has the correct color. This was listed as "pin knotty" which seems correct based on the small pin-sized knot holes here and there.

quartersawn veneer with correctly shown salmon color

veneer sheets: the top is unfigured, the bottom is figured. The yellowish tan color is correct, but there is just a slight green tint in the pic that is not present in the wood.

figured veneer --- the color of this pic is a little off; the color is actually exactly like the sheet directly above this one but the shiny surface is correct, not an effect of the camera.

The Wood Book pics

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
white poplar (Populus alba, also listed as abele) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views. See the note at the top of this page regarding the naming of this species

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides, also listed as just "aspen") from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
large toothed poplar (Populus grandidenta, also listed as large toothed aspen, large poplar, and whitewood) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views. This species is now considered part of the aspen group of Poplulus spp.

web pics:

log section

planks just listed as aspen

plank specifically listed as cottonwood / Populus granditentata (on most monitors, this shows up so pale as to be barely visible). This should be grandidentata with a "d" and it is an aspen, not a cottonwood