Aspen and Cottonwood Woodlands
Quaking aspen and big-tooth aspen regenerate from the same root stock and form clone colonies, causing them to appear as groves. Their presence is felt all over the Urban Reserve, most profoundly in the area known as Texaco Beach. Leaning groups of aspen dot the grassy open land that once hosted a litany of above ground petroleum storage tanks and pipes. Large cottonwood line the lakeshore, while a mixture of smaller trees taste-test the wet shoreline soils.
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| Clockwise from top left: Cottonwood buds, flowering quaking aspen, erosion on the jetty, red maple buds. |
Plant Species Observed in the Aspen and Cottonwood Woodlands
Eastern cottonwood, quaking aspen, big-tooth aspen, box elder, black locust, butternut, spruce, white birch, grey birch, American beech, American elm, Northern red oak, buckthorn, balsam fir, white oak, red maple, pin cherry, honeysuckle
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| A red maple on the shore is just beginning to bud in the early spring light. |
