Click on the images help you identify a quaking aspen.
Form
Trees may reach height of 65 feet with a trunk diameter of 12 to 20 inches but are usually somewhat smaller. Crown is open and rounded crown. Young branchlets are reddish brown and shiny, becoming gray and roughened after first year.
Bark
Thin, white to gray green, almost smooth with black areas around base of limbs. Older bark becomes grayish and warty or deeply furrowed.
Leaf
Simple, alternate on stem. Small, broadly oval, short pointed at end and finely toothed along margin. Color is green and shiny above and dull green below. Leaves usually ranges in size from 1 to 2 inches but often reach 4 inches or more in length and width on vigorous young shoots. Leafstalks are flattened at right angles to leaves, causing leaves to quake or tremble in a very slight breeze.
Fruit (seed)
Ripens in late spring (May or June) before full expansion of leaves. Consists of cottony mass (catkin) containing tiny round light brown seeds that usually germinate in a few hours after they release from the tree.
Range
Quaking aspen is found in nearly all parts of Minnesota, often growing in large clones that sprout dozens or hundreds of trees through sprouting underground stems. It is one of the first species to appear after harvest or fire. Found commonly on cutover land. Grows well on sandy, gravelly soils but thrives better on good soil. Shade intolerant, fast growing, short-lived.
Wood uses
The wood is light brown, surrounded by heavy, nearly white sapwood. It is light, soft, not strong, and used extensively in the production of pulpwood for book and magazine papers and for low-grade lumber.