Start growing
Fast-growing pioneer. Needs full sun. Spreads aggressively via root suckers.
GROW SOMETHING WONDERFUL
Quaking Aspen
Populus tremuloides
Your guide to planting, growing, and getting to know this plant.
THE PLANT NOTEBOOK
Quaking Aspen care, from seed onward.
- Botanical name
- Populus tremuloides
- Common names
- Mountain Aspen, Golden Aspen
- Family
- Salicaceae
- Genus
- Populus
- Species
- P. tremuloides
Growing with your kit
Seeds are extremely short-lived. Your Seeds In A Cup® kit uses fresh-harvested seeds from the current season.
Propagation
By seed or root cuttings.
Seasonal growth & harvest
Entire forests can be a single organism connected by a root system.
Growing conditions
Mountain slopes and recently burned or logged areas.
Weather & tolerances
Highest cold tolerance of any deciduous tree; survives to -70°F.
Pests & plant health
Cankers and tent caterpillars.
Plant safety
Safe; bark contains salicin (precursor to aspirin).
Botanical features
A deciduous tree with smooth white bark and flattened leaf stalks (petioles) that cause leaves to 'quake'. Grows in clonal colonies.
Varieties
Standard native species.
Garden & everyday uses
Wood used for matchsticks and paper pulp. Iconic for its golden autumn color
Native range & distribution
The most widely distributed tree in North America.
Conservation
Secure; clonal colonies can be thousands of years old.
Name origins
Latin ‘tremuloides’ referring to the trembling or quaking of the leaves in the wind.
History
The 'Pando' colony in Utah is one of the world's oldest and heaviest living organisms.