Editing Populus sect. Populus (section)

{{short description|Section of plants}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{automatic taxobox
|image = Populus alba leaf.jpg
|image_caption = Leaves of ''[[Populus alba]]'', the type species of the section
|taxon = Populus sect. Populus
|authority =
|synonyms =
* ''P.'' sect. ''Leuce'' [[Jean Étienne Duby|Duby]]
|synonyms_ref=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/28301378?tab=synonyms|title=Tropicos.org|publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden|accessdate=25 February 2012}}</ref>
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = See [[#Species|text]]
|}}

'''''Populus'' [[section (botany)|section]] ''Populus''''', of the ''[[Populus]]'' (poplar) [[genus]], includes the [[Aspen|aspen trees]] and the white poplar ''[[Populus alba]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/TechSheets/HardwoodNA/pdf_files/popaspeneng.pdf|title=technology transfer fact sheet: ''Populus'' spp.|work=Forest Products Laboratory: R&D USDA |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service|location=Madison, Wisconsin|accessdate=20 September 2010}}</ref> The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the [[Northern Hemisphere]], extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by contrast, is native to warmer regions, with hot, dry summers.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} These trees are all medium-sized [[deciduous]] trees ranging {{convert|15|–|30|m|ft}} tall.

All of the species in section ''Populus'' typically grow in large [[clonal colony|clonal colonies]] derived from a single seedling, and spreading by means of [[basal shoot|root suckers]]; new stems in the colony may appear at up to 30–40 metres from the previous trees. Each individual tree can live for 40–150 years above ground, but the [[root]] system of the colony is long-lived, sending up new trunks as the older trunks die off above ground, spreading about a metre per year, sometimes eventually covering many hectares. They are able to survive [[wildfire|forest fires]] because the roots are below the heat of the fire, and new sprouts can grow from the roots. One colony of American aspen (''P. tremuloides'') in Utah, given the nickname of [[Pando (Quaking Aspen)|"Pando"]], has been estimated to be 80,000 years old (disputed), making it possibly the [[list of long-living organisms|oldest living colony]] of aspens.