Populus tremula

Populus tremula - aspen

The aspen is an easy tree to recognise in Finland from the round leaves. The leaf stalk is long and flattened so that even the gentlest breeze produces the typical fluttering in both movement and sound. In young trees the bark is a smooth grey, which makes the species stand out when seen from a distance; later they become vertically furrowed. From close up, the trunks can often be seen to be decorated by splashes of a yellow lichen (Xanthoria parietina), called variously common orange lichen, yellow scale, maritime sunburst lichen and shore lichen, among others.