Aspen Leaves on Ground, Autumn Colors, Colorado
This photo of freshly fallen aspen leaves at the base of an aspen tree was taken in the upper Laramie River basin in northern Colorado. With the bright yellows, golds, oranges and reds of autumn, the ground underneath a stand of aspen that have just shed their leaves looks like a ton of gold coins have been scattered around.
The leaves of Trembling Aspen (Quaking Aspen), Populus tremuloides, are almost round in shape, with a flattened petiole (the "stem" of the leaf, the part that attaches to the twig) that allows the leaves to wobble or "quake" in even the slightest breeze. Hence the name "Quaking Aspen". The ranchers in the Colorado high country referred to them as "quakies", and draws full of aspen were called "quakie draws", as in "The cows are up in the quakie draws right now, where it's cool for them."
Photo location: Upper Laramie River, Larimer County, Colorado.
