Posted by Paul Gana on December 19, 2007 at 10:28 PM
I habe heard two things about the Kebler Pass area, One is that it has the Largest Aspen forest on Earth and the other is that it has the second Largest Aspen forest on Earth. Anyone know the truth, and if it is the second largest then where is the largest? I heard Telluride area is big on Aspens but I really haven't spent much time down there.
Posted by Mark Stahlke on December 19, 2007 at 11:13 PM
The first route that should be on the top of anyone's list is undoubtedly the Kebler Pass road which goes between Paonia Reservoir, near Somerset, to the west and Crested Butte to the east. This 30-mile stretch is home to the largest aspen forest in the world!
Another noteworthy aspen stand is "Pando" in Utah. Wikipedia has this to say about it:
Pando (or The Trembling Giant) is a clonal colony of a single male Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) tree located in the U.S. state of Utah, all determined to be part of a single living organism by identical genetic markers and one massive underground root system. The plant is estimated to weigh collectively 6,000 tonnes (6,615 tons), making it the heaviest known organism. The root system of Pando is claimed by some to be among the oldest known living organisms in existence at 80,000 years of age, though the method used to produce this estimate (an estimate on when climatic conditions were last suitable for seedling germination) is not supported by current evidence of germination.
I seem to recall that "Pando" was thought to be the largest organism in the world prior to the discovery of a huge fungus in Oregon.
Posted by Brent Murphy on December 20, 2007 at 12:11 AM
Doing a quick Google search on "largest stand of aspen", it appears that most documents reference the Pando stand in Utah.
One article points out that although the massive fungus (the article indicates that it is in Washington, not Oregon) is the largest organism in area, Pando is the largest in mass.
A Google search of "kebler largest aspen" turns up a couple pages that call the Kebler grove the largest on earth, but most list it as "one of the largest on earth" or "the largest in Colorado", "the largest outside of Utah", and even "the third largest organism in the world" (behind Pando and the super-fungus, I guess).
Discussion
2 repliesAnother noteworthy aspen stand is "Pando" in Utah. Wikipedia has this to say about it:I seem to recall that "Pando" was thought to be the largest organism in the world prior to the discovery of a huge fungus in Oregon.
One article points out that although the massive fungus (the article indicates that it is in Washington, not Oregon) is the largest organism in area, Pando is the largest in mass.
A Google search of "kebler largest aspen" turns up a couple pages that call the Kebler grove the largest on earth, but most list it as "one of the largest on earth" or "the largest in Colorado", "the largest outside of Utah", and even "the third largest organism in the world" (behind Pando and the super-fungus, I guess).