Even what seems to be a dead tree is not a dead tree, because the roots, nurtured by the other trees in the cluster, survive below ground. When conditions are right, the roots will send up another trunk. In Colorado there is a cluster of Aspen which one scientist has claimed is the largest single living organism on Earth. The trees stretch over hundreds of acres, varying in size and shape but genetically identical, each tree a living part of the tree beside it. In the Rocky Mountains, the aspen grove is recognized as its own peculiar ecological zone.
Many aspen groves are on moist sites where shrubs and wildflowers also thrive.
Chokecherry is found in the shade of the aspen grove, and the berries are a source of food for many animals, from grouse to bighorn sheep. The cream-colored flowers of the columbine bloom beneath the aspens, as do the fuzzy pink flowerheads of the showy loco. Broad-tailed hummingbirds dart between the trees. They are especially fond of the abundant nectar of the columbine. Violet-green swallows and Mountain Bluebirds nest in cavities in the trees.