Click on the images help you identify a quaking aspen.
Form
Trees may reach a height of 65 feet with a trunk diameter of 12 to 20 inches, though they are usually somewhat smaller. Crown is open and rounded. Young branchlets are reddish brown and shiny, becoming gray and roughened after the first year.
Bark
Thin, white to gray-green, almost smooth with black areas around the base of limbs; older bark becomes grayish and warty or deeply furrowed.
Leaf
Simple, alternate on stem; small, broadly oval, short-pointed at the end, finely toothed along the margin; green and shiny above, dull green below. Leaves usually range from 1 to 2 inches but can reach 4 inches or more on vigorous young shoots. Leafstalks are flattened at right angles to the leaves, causing them to quake or tremble in a slight breeze.
Fruit (seed)
Ripens in late spring (May or June) before full leaf expansion; consists of cottony masses (catkins) containing tiny, round, light brown seeds that usually germinate within hours after release.
Range
Found throughout nearly all parts of Minnesota, often in large clones sprouting dozens or hundreds of trees via underground stems. One of the first species to appear after harvest or fire. Common on cutover land; grows well on sandy, gravelly soils but thrives better on fertile soil. Shade intolerant, fast growing, short-lived.
Wood uses
Light brown, surrounded by heavy, nearly white sapwood; light, soft, and not strong. Used extensively for pulpwood in book and magazine papers and for low-grade lumber.