Common Names: trembling aspen, golden aspen, quiver-leaf aspen, small-toothed aspen, Canadian aspen, quakie, poppleHabitat: Aspen trees occupy pure stands on sandy gravelly slopes, the only transcontinental broadleaf tree growing from Newfoundland to California and Mexico. It is often associated with Douglas fir. An aspen tree is a pioneer tree after fires and logging, the most wind-sensitive leaf of any broadleaf species.
Description: The circular to triangular leaves gives this species its name, each leaf trembling in the slightest breeze at the end of a long, flattened stem. The thin, damage-prone bark is light green and smooth with bands of warty bumps.
Uses: furniture parts, matches, boxes, pulp
The Quaking Aspen of North America is known for its leaves turning spectacular tints of red and yellow in the autumn of the year (and usually in the early autumn at the altitudes where it lives) This causes forests of aspen trees to be noted tourist attractions for viewing them in the fall.
An aspen tree is the most widely distributed tree species in North America, ranging from Alaska to Newfoundland and down the Rocky Mountains to Mexico. Interestingly, Utah and Colorado is home to the largest portion of the natural acreage of aspen in the World.
