Populus tremuloides Michx.
Quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, mountain aspen, golden aspen, trembling poplar, white poplar, popple
Quaking aspen, so called because of the way its leaves flutter in the wind, is native to temperate North America. (Don’t confuse this with the European aspen, whose scientific name is confusingly similar: P. tremula.)
Plants: 49–59′ (15–18 m) tall, very fast-growing, with fairly smooth pale whitish gray bark. The bark has black horizontal scars and conspicuous black knots. Quaking aspens can form large clonal colonies, spreading via roots. Trunks may live for a hundred years, but roots may be hundreds or thousands of years old. A single aspen clone may cover over a hundred acres! According to the US Forest Service, one clone in Utah was found to be 80,000 years old, although 5,000 to 10,000-year-old clones are more typical.
Leaves: Glossy green atop, pale beneath, becoming yellow or gold-colored in the fall. Leaves are approximately round, 1½–2″ (4–6 cm) around, on petioles (stems) ⅛–¼″ (3–7 mm) long. They have small, rounded teeth.
Flowers: Plants are dioecious: male and female flowers appear on separate trees. The flowers are catkins 1½–2½″ (3.8–6.4 cm) long. They appear from April to May.
Fruits: 4″ (10 cm) length of up to several dozen capsules, each ⅛″ (6 mm), hanging like pearls on a broken string. The capsules contain up to 10 tiny seeds wrapped in cottony balls for wind dispersal.
Habitats: Forest edges, forests, meadows and fields, shrublands or thickets, woodlands.
Online References:
7/26/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 9 × 13″ (22 × 34 cm) 
The yellow capsules are infected by Taphrina johansonii, an ascomycete. The healthy capsules are green. · 4/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (17 × 11 cm) 
7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Pennsylvania · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm) 
7/7/2025 · Woodward Point Preserve, Brunswick, Maine · ≈ 8 × 7″ (21 × 17 cm) 
The gall is created by Euhexomyza schineri, or poplar twiggall fly · 4/20/2017 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (16 × 11 cm) 
8/31/2014 · New Mexico 
7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Pennsylvania · ≈ 6 × 4″ (14 × 10 cm) 
10/23/2010 · Warwick Mills, New Ipswich, New Hampshire 
8/31/2014 · New Mexico 
8/31/2014 · New Mexico 
7/18/2017 · Tobyhanna State Park, Pennsylvania · ≈ 5 × 4″ (13 × 10 cm) 
5/13/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 6″ (18 × 14 cm) 
5/9/2021 · Mitchell Field, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
4/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 6″ (22 × 14 cm) 
7/20/2023 · Curtis Farm Preserve, Harpswell, Maine 
8/31/2014 · New Mexico 
5/13/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts 
6/21/2025 · Hawk Mountain, Waterford, Maine 
The two galls are created by Euhexomyza schineri, poplar twiggall flies · 4/20/2017 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 10″ (16 × 25 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Malpighiales | A broad group encompassing 16,000 species |
| Family | Salicaceae | Willow family |
| Genus | Populus | Latin for “people” because the many moving leaves in a breeze resemble a moving populace |
| Species | tremuloides | Like the quivering poplar or quaking aspen |
Populus tremuloides description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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