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• Broad-leaved woody plants
• Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides — quaking aspen, quaking poplar

Facts

Quaking poplar (also called quaking aspen) is easily recognized by its round-triangular leaves that twist on their petioles and tremble and shimmer in even the slightest breeze. These same leaves turn a blazing yellow in the fall. Its thin bark is white when young, becoming yellow or greenish brown in mature trees. The bitter inner bark is nibbled by beaver, which also use the branches to construct their lodges. A wide variety of moths and beetles depend on this species for food. The primary use for the wood is as pulp, but it is also used to construct sauna benches and playground structures because it does not splinter.

Habitat

Forest edges, forests, meadows and fields, shrublands or thickets, woodlands

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Bud scale number

  there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed

  Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)

  NA

  Collateral buds

  there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches

  Leaf scar arrangement

  there is one leaf scar per node on the stem or twig

  Superposed buds

  there are no superposed buds on the branch

  Terminal bud

  the branch has a terminal bud on it

  Winter bud distribution

  the winter buds are distributed fairly evenly along the twig

  Winter bud scale hairs

  the winter bud scales have no hairs on them

  Winter bud scales

  the winter bud is perulate (partially or completely covered with one or more scales)

  Winter bud shape

  • the winter buds are lanceoloid (lance-shaped, widest below the middle and tapering to the ends)
  • the winter buds are ovoid (egg-shaped)

  Winter bud stalks

  the winter buds have no stalks

• Flowers

  Carpels fused

  the carpels are fused to one another

  Enlarged sterile flowers

  there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant

  Flower appearance

  the flowers appear before the leaves

  Flower petal color

  NA

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)

  NA

  Hypanthium present

  the flower does not have a hypanthium

  Inflorescence type

  the inflorescence is an ament (catkin; slender, usually pendulous inflorescence with crowded unisexual flowers)

  Number of pistils

  1

  Ovary position

  the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower lacks sepals and petals

  Petal appearance

  NA

  Petal fusion

  NA

  Sepal appearance

  NA

  Sepal cilia (Ilex)

  NA

  Sepal tip glands

  NA

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  NA

  Stamen number

  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13 or more
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  the stamens are not fused to one another

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  NA

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)

  Nut with spines (Fagaceae)

  NA

  Wings on fruit

  there are no wings on the fruit

• Glands or sap

  Sap color

  the sap is clear and watery

  Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)

  NA

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant is a tree

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf has no hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf blade base shape

  • The base of the leaf blade is cordate (heart-shaped, with rounded lobes)
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded
  • the base of the leaf blade is truncate (ends abruptly in a more or less straight line as though cut off)

  Leaf blade base symmetry

  the leaf blade base is symmetrical

  Leaf blade bloom

  there is a noticeable powdery or waxy bloom on the underside of the leaf

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade edges (Acer)

  NA

  Leaf blade flatness

  the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  20–100 mm

  Leaf blade scales

  there are no scales on the leaf blades

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is orbicular (roughly circular, as wide as long)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is rhombic (roughly diamond-shaped)

  Leaf blade texture

  • the leaf blade is coriaceous (has a firm, leathery texture)
  • the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)

  Leaf blade translucent dots

  there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade

  Leaf blade vein pattern

  the main veins of the leaf blade are pinnate (the secondary veins branch off at intervals from the main central vein) and non-arcuate (not arched towards the leaf tip)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has three or more main veins running from the base (or near the base) towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  18–70 mm

  Leaf duration

  the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)

  Leaf form

  the plant is broad-leaved (with broadly flattened leaf blades)

  Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)

  NA

  Leaf midrib glands

  the midrib of the leaf blade lacks glands on the upper surface

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk attachment to leaf

  the petiole attaches at the basal margin of the leaf blade

  Leaf stalk nectaries

  there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk

  Leaf stalk shape

  the leaf stalk is flattened, perpendicular to the plane of the leaf blade

  Leaf teeth

  the leaf blade margin has teeth, which themselves have smaller teeth on them

  Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)

  NA

  Leaf type

  the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaves per node

  there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on the plant, or they fall off as the leaf expands

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • forests
  • meadows or fields
  • shrublands or thickets
  • woodlands

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Aerial roots

  the plant has no aerial roots

  Bark texture

  • the bark of an adult plant is ridged or plated
  • the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth

  Branch brittleness (willows only)

  NA

  Branch cross-section

  the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles

  First-year cane (Rubus)

  NA

  Lenticels on twigs

  there are clearly lenticels on the twigs

  Pith shape

  the outline of the pith in a twig is roughly round

  Short shoots

  there are peg- or knob-like shoots present

  Twig bloom

  there is no bloom on the twig

  Twig hairs

  the twigs have few or no hairs on them

  Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)

  NA

  Twig scales

  there are no scales on the twig surface

  Twig winter color

  • brown
  • gray
  • red

  Wings on branch

  the branch does not have wings on it

  armature on plant

  the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae