Populus tremuloides
Quaking Aspen

Family: Salicaceae (Willow family)

Photo taken in Icicle Canyon, 7 year old burn

Flowers:

dioecious

Fruit:

Leaves:

blade 2 to 7 cm, widely ovate, the base rounded to cordate; upper surface green, lower surface glaucous; petiole laterally flattened

Plant:

medium sized trees, usually less than 15 meters tall; forming colonies; smooth white bark. Wood used to make dugout canoes by the Upper Thompson (Frazer Band). Bark powder used on feet and underarms as a deodorant and antiperspirant by the Okanagan-Colville. Bark powder rubbed on the underarms of girls and mens faces and arms to prevent the growth of hair by the Thompson.

Habitat:

streamsides, moist openings and slopes in subalpine forests, lowlands, and sage steppe

Distribution of species:

Alaska to Mexico, to Eastern North America

Distribution of genus:

40 species: northern hemisphere