What do tree leaves look like? How to draw leaves with a pencil Draw an aspen leaf with a pencil.

Have you ever wondered what kind of wood is used to make durable furniture? Or why in all the legends is it the aspen stake that kills vampires? It seems that such a familiar name is aspen, but many cannot even describe this tree. Some people confuse it with poplar. We will talk about what aspen is, photos of the tree and leaves will help in the future to identify it by external signs. The article contains information about where the aspen tree grows, its photo and description, as well as what kind of furniture is made from aspen wood.
Aspen branch with leaves

What is aspen - botanical information

Sometimes someone gets confused whether a coniferous tree is aspen or deciduous. We answer: this is a fast-growing deciduous tree up to 35 m tall from the Willow family of the Poplar genus. The Latin name is Pópulus trémula. The diameter of an adult tree is 1 m. How many years does aspen live? Botanical encyclopedias answer this way: its average life expectancy is 80 years, although there are specimens that “celebrated” their 150th anniversary. Usually, in old age, this representative of the Poplar genus is susceptible to tree diseases.

Numerous root shoots can be seen around the common aspen. The roots go deep into the ground, but there are many shoots.

In the photo below, notice the smooth greenish bark of the young aspen. The wood inside is a pleasant white-green shade. The leaves resemble a diamond, up to 7 cm in size; the top of the leaf can be either sharp or blunt, but the base is always rounded. Interestingly, the leaves of the shoots are always larger and look like a heart.

Aspen is dioecious; both sexes have dangling catkins. In male aspen they are red in color, and in female aspen they are greenish. Flowering occurs in early spring before the leaves emerge.

Where aspen grows: growing areas

This tree is quite common in Russia: aspen can be found in the central zone of the country, Arkhangelsk, Vologda regions, Transbaikalia, and the middle Volga region. The favorite place of growth is considered to be forest and forest-steppe zones, banks of reservoirs, swamps, and ravines.

The tree is not very picky about the choice of soil. Once in any soil, the aspen will eventually spread in different directions, where a young aspen forest will form. What trees grow in the aspen forest? These can be pine, spruce or birch. You can find one or more aspens among a birch grove, in an alder forest and next to oak trees.

It is more difficult to grow in the steppe, and aspen shoots root shoots up to 40 m in different directions from the mother tree. After a few years of such capture, an aspen clump will form in the steppe, which will occupy many hectares over several decades.

After a fire, aspen trees recover very quickly thanks to their deep root system.

This interesting representative of the willow family is widespread not only in Russia, it has also invaded the forests of Europe, the Mongolian and Kazakh steppes, and the Korean Peninsula.

Why does the aspen tree tremble?

Anyone who has seen an aspen immediately notices the trembling of its leaves. This is a completely normal process for such moving foliage. It's all about the petiole of the leaf: it is thin and long, flattened on the sides, so it bends easily. The leaf easily sways from the slightest breeze on such a thin petiole. Another name for aspen is trembling poplar.

Basic properties of aspen

Aspen has been loved since ancient times for its beneficial properties. Not only wood is valuable for making furniture and baths, but also bark. In times of famine, aspen bast was ground into flour and baked into bread. The branches of the lower tier are also used in our time to prevent spoilage of sauerkraut during preparation. This cabbage can be stored without problems until late spring. The crushed bark is added to food by foresters and hunters to relieve fatigue.

Medicinal properties

To understand why aspen is considered healing, consider its chemical composition. Tree bark contains glucose, sucrose, and fructose. In addition, it contains a lot of aromatic acids, tannins, higher fatty acids, as well as salicin and populin.

Aspen bark is used for medicinal purposes

The buds are rich in raffinose, fructose, the same aromatic acids, tannins, and triglycerides of phenolcarboxylic acids.

The leaves are also a storehouse of organic acids, carbohydrates, vitamin C, carotene, anthocyanins, flavonoids and some other substances.

Based on such a rich composition, the antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitussive, choleretic and anthelmintic properties of aspen parts were revealed. Infusions of buds, leaves and bark, and aqueous extracts of tree bark are used.

Properties of wood

The wood is homogeneous, so it does not cause problems either during cutting or processing. Abrasion resistance has been noted. Aspen wood is dense (490 kg/m³) and moderately hard (1.86 Brinell).

The wood structure is straight-grained and light. Summer hats are made from thin aspen shavings by weaving. The use of shavings is not limited to hats. It is dyed with aniline dyes to make flowers. It is known to use pressed shavings for packaging containers.

When working with aspen wood, it is noticeable that it splits easily and cracks quite a bit.

Aspen is widely used: they make dishes, aspen ploughshares were used for roofing domes, making matches, woodcarvers also love to work with this wood.

What aspen looks like - photo gallery

Aspen undergrowth is attractive for walking. To get to know this tree better, we have selected a number of photographs. Now you can be sure that you will not confuse this tree with any other.

Photo of aspen tree

Aspen leaf photo

What does aspen look like in winter?

Winter aspen forest

Lonely aspen in winter dress

In the photo, the aspen tree looks fabulous in winter

Advantages of planting aspen in a summer cottage

In villages, aspen trees outside the yard are a frequent visitor. It is not particularly bothered by shade and also grows well in the sun. People's beliefs speak of the ability of this tree next to the house to protect residents from evil spirits and negative energy. This belief is based on diseases affecting the tree trunk. If a tree is sick, it means it attracts everything bad to itself - such conclusions were drawn in the villages.

Today, the importance of aspen is consigned to history, and this tree is planted in the countryside for beauty and to improve soil fertility.

Soil improvement

All the leaves that this tree sheds in the fall decompose very quickly, increasing the looseness of the soil and turning into humus. Experienced gardeners know that aspen trees should be planted on clay infertile soils, because with its strong, deep roots the tree helps other plants and trees subsequently develop such soil.

Landscape design opportunities

Aspen trees are actively planted within the city as landscaping. These trees hold back gusts of wind well and strengthen the banks near reservoirs. Even representatives of the fauna of the steppe zone are not particularly willing to penetrate the forest if an aspen tree grows on its border. If aspen is used as a material for landscape design of a holiday village, it is done not only because of the decorative qualities of the tree, but also because a number of aspens are fire-resistant plantings: the tree does not burn well.

Decorative features boil down to the rapid leafing of the tree after pruning and beautiful autumn foliage. Breeders have developed several hybrids that have a pyramidal shape or weeping tiers.

The use of aspen in construction

The wood, even after a long stay in a humid environment, does not crack or warp. Aspen wood retains heat well.

Application of aspen today:

• lining;
• board for baths and saunas;
• shingle;
• ploughshare for wooden churches;
• matches;
• carved decorative items.

Use of aspen in furniture production

We found out the qualities of aspen wood above; based on them, the use of aspen in furniture production is clear: it is recommended for high indoor humidity. Combined with the fact that there will be no burns from touching hot wood, aspen furniture fits well into the decor of a bathhouse or sauna.

The price of aspen furniture is low, but it gives off a pleasant smell of calm. In addition, such a piece of furniture is difficult to get dirty. However, some people find furniture made from this type of wood unpresentable. If a diseased tree was used, then there is a possibility of the furniture rotting from the inside. We recommend aspen furniture to those who have chosen a country style for their home.

We hope that information about aspen wood, its use and properties was useful.

A detailed lesson will help you learn how to draw leaves step by step with a pencil. Leaves are an essential element of any summer or autumn landscape. The nature on our planet is incredibly diverse, and therefore there are many varieties of leaves, so drawing them is always very interesting. Drawing leaves is not difficult at all if you have just a little time and the right materials. We will show you how to draw leaves with a pencil step by step. Try drawing with us, and you will definitely like both the process and the result.

An easy way to draw a maple leaf in 6 steps:

Draw a simple autumn leaf. This tutorial will be useful if you are drawing a detailed tree. Please note what colors we use and what transitions they have.

Draw an oak leaf in four simple steps. You don't even need to use an eraser, it's so simple!

And now - a more detailed lesson on drawing a leaf.

So, to draw leaves, we need a blank sheet of paper, a simple pencil and an eraser. First of all, let's mark the sheet, draw the base, so that in the future it will be easy and convenient for us to draw. In this case we are drawing a beautiful maple leaf, so the base will look like this. You only need four lines to draw the base for the leaf.

Now we need the shape of the sheet so that the further drawing is neat and beautiful. Focusing on the previously drawn lines, we begin to draw cone-shaped figures; we should have five of them in total.

Next, we begin to draw the outlines of the sheet on top of the sketch. The base lines should be barely noticeable, otherwise the leaf pattern will turn out dirty and ugly. The jagged outline of the leaves is not difficult to draw if you try. If you don’t get it right the first time, use an eraser, you can practice on a rough draft until it starts to look nice.

Gradually draw the entire outline of the leaves. It should look something like this. Next, you will need to arm yourself with the eraser again and remove all the extra lines, leaving only the outline.

To make the painted leaves look natural, you need to draw a twig and veins. The veins won't be straight, so just draw by hand, don't use a ruler.

The final stage will be coloring. You can draw leaves using colored pencils, watercolors, gouache and other materials; you can choose exactly the ones you like best. In the end, this is what we ended up with.

The following picture shows how to draw beautiful tropical leaves in the shape of a heart.

1. First we draw a base that resembles a heart. Let's draw a line in the middle.
2. Let's start drawing the edges. There are notches on the edges of such tropical leaves; they must be marked.
3. We draw the veins with a double line; here they should be neat and repeat the shape of the leaf. I also add some holes to the surface of the leaves.
4. Color the drawn leaves in a tropical style. I'm using a cool turquoise green, you can get it by mixing green with blue. I add warm shades to the edges - they can be easily achieved by mixing yellow and green. Don't forget to leave the holes unpainted.

There are many more ways to draw leaves. For example, if you are a complete beginner, you will like the doodle technique. To draw these leaves you will need paper and a pen.

Almost every person living in central Russia knows the appearance of aspen. The tree is equally attractive at any time of the year. It not only looks charming, but also brings many benefits. Certain parts of the plant are taken to make medicines and animal feed.

Almost every person living in central Russia knows the appearance of aspen

The correct name of the tree - “trembling poplar” - is not known to everyone. It received this name due to its ability to sway (tremble) intensely even from a slight blow of wind. Aspen has a rather impressive appearance - a columnar trunk with gray-olive bark and a lush crown. The trunk can be up to 1 m in diameter, and the height of a perennial representative often reaches 30-35 m.

With age, peculiar lentils form on the bark, which make the appearance of aspen even more attractive. It has high frost resistance. Grows in moist, acidified soil and is not afraid of shade. Its distinctive feature from similar trees, for example, poplar, is the peculiar shape of the leaves. It is also easy to calculate by the flowers that appear in the first days of spring.

The leaves are rhombic in shape with jagged edges, and their width often exceeds their length. The foliage is attached to the branches using thin cuttings, which also creates the effect of trembling while swaying in the wind. The leaves of young aspen are similar to poplar, so they can sometimes be confused.

Unusual inflorescences appear on aspen trees with the arrival of the first warm days of spring. They are divided into women's and men's, and their shape resembles jewelry - earrings. Reproduction occurs thanks to the seeds, which are located on the inflorescences. They spread throughout the areas adjacent to the tree due to the small pappus that is present on each inflorescence.

Gallery: aspen tree (25 photos)

Why aspen always trembles (video)

Beneficial features

Aspen can confidently be called a useful tree. It has many properties that are used by humans in various areas of life. Thus, the bark is often used as a dietary supplement to food. It is cut into strips and dried. In winter, small quantities of crushed bark are added to food. This supplement tones and helps cope with fatigue.

Some people make flour from the bark - aspen bast, which can be used for cooking.

The leaves and bark are often used as medicine. A decoction of the leaves is a good expectorant. It is drunk for influenza and ARVI to reduce fever and high body temperature. The decoction is also used to treat other diseases:

• hemorrhoids;
• diabetes mellitus;
• pancreatitis.

The use of aspen decoction is recommended for people suffering from diseases of the genitourinary system. A decoction or tincture is useful for problems with the gastrointestinal tract. You do not have to buy the medicine at the pharmacy; you can prepare it yourself. The recipe is simple: add dried or fresh leaves with a small amount of water and boil over low heat. Cool the resulting decoction and drink it in a certain dosage, which is best agreed with your doctor.

Common aspen (video)

Use in construction

Aspen is a tree from which good material for construction is obtained. For this purpose, trees older than 35 years are used. Objects made from this material look very attractive, as the wood is white in color, soft and pleasant to the touch.

It is not used for the construction of residential premises, but is often used for finishing baths and saunas.

Landscape designers often use this tree as a material to implement ideas for landscaping. Aspen is planted in parks and city areas, as it is perfect for landscaping areas. In spring and summer, the tree is covered with thick greenery, which in the fall takes on a bright red hue with splashes of orange and yellow. The plant does not require special care and improves the quality of the soil in which it grows.

In the previous lesson I showed . This lesson will be like an addition to it. Here we will look at how to draw leaves with a pencil step by step. As an example I will show how to draw a maple leaf. The drawing process is not complicated.

Step one. I start with the markup. I draw something similar in appearance to a hieroglyph. Each of these lines represents the main network of veins. Step two. Let's draw the contours of the maple leaf itself. Remember that this is still a sketch, so there is no need to press on the pencil. We'll erase these lines later. Step three. Take a colored pencil. I leave the choice of color up to you. I took green, even though it’s already autumn, but I like green. We outline the contours and erase the auxiliary lines that I talked about in the previous steps.
Step four. Take another colored pencil and color our sheet as you wish. Mine turned out completely green. But you can make it in any color. There are many different types of leaves in nature, so there are no restrictions. The result will look something like this: But this is not the end. This time I decided to show how to draw leaves with a pencil completely, from sketch to coloring, and not just coloring as in the previous lesson about autumn. It turned out very realistic, what do you think?
I’ll also give you a cheat sheet (or just remind you what they look like) the leaves of other trees. The collection was assembled personally. My classmate and I walked through the park and picked some leaves for ourselves. This is how we have fun: I also really wanted to draw chestnut leaves, but I didn’t find a single good copy, they had all fallen off. Therefore, I give a picture from the network:
And here is the entire harvest:
That's probably all. You can also draw other vegetation.