Exotic Wood aspen

WOOD ID POSTER:
co-created by, and sponsored by, HobbitHouse

240 woods on a poster (24"x36")

www.woodposter.com

open main page here

ASPEN

Populus spp.
Populus spp. of the family Fabaceae. 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 Populous. There is some possiblity 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 the genus Populus (IN THE USA) with common names including aspen and poplar (cottonwood)

my samples --- colors are accurate throughout

both sides and both ends of a sample piece

end grain closeup 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

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 artifact of the camera.

The Wood Book pics

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

web pics