Aspen, Quaking - Populus tremuloides

A small to medium tree to 25 m (80 feet) tall forming dense colonies; bark is smooth, greenish-white to cream colored becoming blackish and rough with injury and age; leaves are alternate, deciduous, almost round, finely toothed, shiny yellow-green above and pale below becoming bright yellow to orange in fall, the laterally flattened petiole allows leaf to flutter in the slightest breeze; flowers catkins. Habitat is streams, moist benches and mountain slopes at low to high elevations on sandy to loamy soils. Susceptible to canker and fire, but readily suckers. Domestic livestock and wildlife readily graze younger growth. Collect seed from late May to mid June, collection is improved by pruning branches containing female catkins and then placing the cut ends in water under greenhouse conditions with low relative humidity to encourage ripening. Storage information is contradictory, one reference indicates that seed dried for three days at 24°C (75°F) will remain viable for one year if stored at 5°C (41°F) at a moisture content of 5 to 8 percent; another indicates that "dry" storage of seed for as little as two months results in dramatic drops in germination percentage. Surface sow seed on a water-saturated media; seed readily germinates in the spring.

Greenhouse asexual propagation - by root divisions (of suckers) and by lateral root propagation; root cuttings are collected in the dormant stage (spring or fall), 1 to 2 cm (0.4 to 0.8 inch) in diameter and 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long; plant 1 to 3 centimeters (0.4 to 1.2 inch) deep in vermiculite under greenhouse conditions for 6 weeks, separate suckers and plant in a 1:1 vermiculite:perlite mix under mist until rooting occurs. Pot up to larger sizes in a peat:vermiculite mix and grow under greenhouse conditions prior to hardening-off.

Field propagation by dormant unrooted hardwood cuttings is rare. Root cuttings at least 13 to 15 centimeters (5 to 6 inches) long with 1 to 2 stems about 1.2 to 1.8 meters (4 to 6 feet) high have been moderately successful when planted in slightly moist soils.

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Last Modified: 07/05/2007