Aspen Stand: Plants

Mammals

Birds

Amphibians/Reptiles

Arthropods

Bryophytes/Lichens

Star-flowered false Solomon’s seal

This is a perennial plant that reaches 20 to 60 cm tall and usually grows in patches.  Narrow, lance-shaped leaves grow in two rows up the stem and are hairy underneath. Clusters of small, creamy-white star-like flowers grow at the end of the flower stem. Dark blue to reddish-black round berries form after the flowers fade.

First Nations people have traditionally eaten the berries and used the plant as a rheumatic medicine or to combat against colds.

Common snowberry

Common snowberry is a deciduous shrub reaching 0.5 to 1.5 m in height with oval, green leaves that have wavy -toothed or smooth edges. Pink, bell-shaped flowers bloom in small clusters from May until June and white berries persist throughout the winter.

Common snowberry is a valuable source of food and shelter for many wildlife species. The leaves and bark provide food for ungulates and grouse. Small mammals hide beneath snowberry shrubs to avoid predators. Ground-nesting water birds build their nests in the underlying vegetation.

Trembling aspen

The trembling aspen is a deciduous tree standing up to 30 m tall with whitish and smooth waxy bark. The leaves are round with sharp-pointed tips and the leaf stalks are flattened, causing the leaves to "tremble" in the slightest breeze. In the spring, catkins, or flowers, appear before the leaves with male and female catkins on separate trees.

Trembling aspen provides protective cover, shade and forage for a wide variety of wildlife. Woodpeckers and ducks nest in old tree cavities and dead woody debris from these trees provides critical habitat for amphibians and reptiles.

Want to find out about species at risk in aspen stands?
Go to Species at Risk

Here are some representative species to start with:

Forbs:
Showy Aster
Western Meadowrue
Grasses:
Kentucky Bluegrass
Spreading Needlegrass
Stiff Needlegrass
Shrubs:
Chokecherry
Common Snowberry
Nootka Rose
Saskatoon

Illustrations:
Reprinted with permission from Illustrated Flora of BC
J.R. Janish  Reprinted by permission of the University of Washington Press

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