Field of Gold
Crested Butte
Quaking Aspens (Populus tremuloides) grow in stands across the rolling foothills around Crested Butte, Colorado. An Aspen tree isn’t really one tree… it is actually a stand of clone “trees” all growing up from one root system that regenerates itself after each fire clears the landscape. Some of these root systems are among the oldest living organisms on planet Earth. Photo © copyright by Chris Eaton.