Quaking aspen

The most widespread tree in North America – in autumn its trembling leaves turn the forests gold from Yukon to the Atlantic.

A slender broadleaf tree growing to 20–25 m, with smooth, creamy-white or greenish bark and almost round leaves on long, flattened stalks, which make them tremble in the slightest breeze. In autumn the leaves turn an intense gold. It reproduces mainly by root suckers, forming extensive clones made up of hundreds of genetically identical trunks. It quickly colonises land after fires and logging, preparing the ground for conifers.

Significance in the country

The quaking aspen grows in every province and territory except Nunavut, and on the edge of the prairies it forms a belt of woodland known as the aspen parkland. It is an important raw material for Canadian pulp mills and OSB board factories, and its bark and shoots feed moose and beavers.

Where it grows

The entire boreal and mixed forest belt from Yukon and British Columbia to Newfoundland, plus the woodlands on the edge of the prairies in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

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