Populus tremuloides
Quaking Aspen
Quaking Aspen (or Trembling Poplar) is the most widely distributed tree in North America. It is generally considered a tree of little value because of its soft wood but the Arboretum couldn’t disagree more. This aspen offers an aural and visual dimension to the forest unlike any other tree with the fluttering or “quaking” of its lovely rounded tooth-edged leaves. In autumn, it holds its bright yellow fall color longer than any of the other trees and lights up the forest late in the season. Quaking Aspen is another “pioneer” species, establishing itself early after forest fires, ice and wind storms and on abandoned farmland. It is believed that the heaviest and perhaps oldest individual living organism on our planet is a clonal colony of a single Quaking Aspen tree. It is known as Pando, which means “I spread” in Latin. Pando has over 400 trunks and covers an area of 108 acres in Utah.