ID Problem: Balsam Poplar vs Quaking Aspen & Big Tooth Aspen

SD51555

SD51555

5 year old buck +
Every year, I yearn to cut more and more as I see the positive effects it brings my habitat. I am keenly aware of the good that quaking aspen and big tooth aspen bring the forest critters. I have not found similar info on balsam poplar, and because of this, I'd like to keep whacking it down. I did discover that all the saplings I've been snapping by hand are good fire starters. Apparently the resins in the new growth is quite flammable. I'll have to fart around with that next time I'm up.

Anyway, I'm looking for ways to ID balsam poplar vs quaking aspen and big tooth aspen after leaves have fallen. I haven't been able to come up with a definitive answer online. Does anyone know of a surefire way to tell them apart so I can be sure to save some sentinel trees of the desirable species?
 
I have a neighbor that claims to know how to tell them apart, but he's not goodly with wordage to explain it to me. It's complicated.
 
Haha! Neat.
1e3f208e2cd8de1c8449549763d662ff.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Aspens or Poplars?

According to Wikipedia, there are two related species that have overlapping ranges in New England. Populus tremuloides is the Quaking Aspen, the same species known to blanket mid-elevation mountain slopes in the west and turn into large fields of golden color this time of year. I was not aware...
www.vftt.org www.vftt.org

The above thread talks about it some.

That thread the bark has a different tint to it. Somewhere else I saw the buds are big vs small on aspen vs poplar.

Best bet is to ID them with tree marking paint, then look again this upcoming winter. How are you dealing with the poplar when you ID it?
 
I dug out my book. I came up with a few ways to tell them apart. I'll have to confirm with leaves on the ground, leaves on the trees, and some bark observations. Here's what I'm putting in my head.

Balsam poplar: Will have a thick bark and very irregular pattern to it.

Big tooth aspen: Will have a more orderly bark pattern, very similar to ash.

Quaking aspen: The trunk will be white closest to the ground regardless of age. It's not perfect, but there will be noticeably more white on the lower trunk than the other two.
 
bigboreblr said:

Aspens or Poplars?

According to Wikipedia, there are two related species that have overlapping ranges in New England. Populus tremuloides is the Quaking Aspen, the same species known to blanket mid-elevation mountain slopes in the west and turn into large fields of golden color this time of year. I was not aware...
www.vftt.org www.vftt.org

The above thread talks about it some.

That thread the bark has a different tint to it. Somewhere else I saw the buds are big vs small on aspen vs poplar.

Best bet is to ID them with tree marking paint, then look again this upcoming winter. How are you dealing with the poplar when you ID it?
Click to expand...
I'm not certain what I'll do with the information once I have it. If I could ID them better, I'd probably manage them differently. For example, if I found a stand of good aspen that didn't have any balsam poplar in it, I'd cut it and treat it like a browse-specific spot. That'd mean I'd likely keep cutting it every 4 years or so to keep it thick and the food at mouth level.

If I found balsam poplar, I'd probably treat the stumps to try to head off the regen clones. I don't know if I'd chemically treat them because I don't know enough about how root zone herbicides translocate underground, if they'd just hit the clones, or kill the whole area. What i would do, is get a hundred pounds of powdered salt and put a layer of salt on each balsam poplar stump to kill it.
 
If you do a search for aspen vs poplar that will show differences. One primary is aspen leaves are more heart shaped and rounded, they also flutter in the wind. Poplar are more oblong and pointed.
 
SD51555 said:
I'm not certain what I'll do with the information once I have it. If I could ID them better, I'd probably manage them differently. For example, if I found a stand of good aspen that didn't have any balsam poplar in it, I'd cut it and treat it like a browse-specific spot. That'd mean I'd likely keep cutting it every 4 years or so to keep it thick and the food at mouth level.

If I found balsam poplar, I'd probably treat the stumps to try to head off the regen clones. I don't know if I'd chemically treat them because I don't know enough about how root zone herbicides translocate underground, if they'd just hit the clones, or kill the whole area. What i would do, is get a hundred pounds of powdered salt and put a layer of salt on each balsam poplar stump to kill it.
Click to expand...

I poked around for some information and what I found from the state of Minn. was that you can identify the trees from the buds. The balsam poplar is said to have sticky pitch like from the buds that smells like balsam, hence the name. The buds were all a different shape also.

One article said to girdle the trees in order to prevent suckering.
 
Jerry-B-WI said:
I poked around for some information and what I found from the state of Minn. was that you can identify the trees from the buds. The balsam poplar is said to have sticky pitch like from the buds that smells like balsam, hence the name. The buds were all a different shape also.

One article said to girdle the trees in order to prevent suckering.
Click to expand...
My challenge is being able to ID them in late November. I'm gonna try to ID some this spring and paint them for girdling. That was a really good find on the girdling. I'll give that a try.
 
Balsam poplar around here tends to be in lower, damp locations
 
Girdle and coat with some diesel all by itself.

IF you got alot to girdle in one area, use a chainsaw. If your girdling here n there, those milwaukee hatchets are awesome. I clean trails and open up foodplot edges at camp with mine. Half the time the chainsaw stays at home.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top