Quaking aspen trees grow commonly to 40 ft., heart-shaped leaves are ½-2½ in., male and female catkins are on separate trees, and bark is white and birch-like. The leafstalks of quaking aspen are uniquely rigid, causing slight breezes to give the tree a fluttering appearance in the wind. Quaking aspen is one of the widest-ranging North American trees, extending from Pacific to Atlantic coast and from Alaska to central Mexico. (Mathews, 2021)
Quaking aspens tend to grow from root suckers, an asexual form of reproduction, which leads to large aspen groves of genetically-identical clones with a shared root system. Aspen clone roots have remarkable longevity, and a quaking aspen clone forest in Utah is around 80,000 years old and is debatably the world’s largest living organism. (Mathews, 2021)
Quaking aspen provides crucial habitat and grazing for animals. Young aspen stands are susceptible to grazing by wildlife and livestock, and take 6-8 years to grow out of reach of its predators. High protein content makes aspen a valuable browse for elk and deer in fall and winter. Aspen forests provide shade, breeding and fawning ground, cover, and —to a lesser extent— thermal protection in winter, to ungulates such as deer and elk. (Howard, 1996)
Fourteen different names for quaking aspen in various Northwest Coast languages reference the shaking, trembling nature of the leaves. (Turner, 2015). People interior of the coastal mountain ranges would eat the soft inner cambium of aspen as well as other trees, which was rich in sugar, carbohydrates, and vitamins. The bark was also used to construct food storage containers, and the bark of the aspen contains preservative properties which aids in their use. Canoe paddles, teepee poles, cooking sticks, ash mixed with caribou grease used for soap, drying racks, and other wooden implements were made out of the tree. Fallen quaking aspens and downed limbs were used preferentially over felling live trees. (Turner, 2015)
Coyote is viewed as a trickster figure, similar to Raven, by people who reside in the interior plateau, such as the Nlaka’pamux tribe, as well as people in other regions of what is now west of the Rockies. Coyote stories often convey important moral lessons, and quaking aspen is featured frequently and personified with agency as one of Coyote's wives in the stories. The fables often convey information about the medicinal uses of quaking aspen. (Turner, 2015)
Snowpack under quaking aspen forests is better quality than under coniferous forests, which leads to good water quality. Soil cover provided by fallen quaking aspen provides “excellent watershed protection” and facilitates the preservation and health of forest soil. (Howard, 1996)
Quaking aspen is widely used in the Eastern United States in the manufacturing of particleboard, paper, lumber, and furniture. The soft, straight-grained wood of the aspen tree processes nicely and takes well to glue and paint, but lacks strength, shock resistance, and decay resistance. (Howard, 1996)
The striking seasonal transformation of aspen leaves in the fall increases the recreational value of aspen forests during the season. (Howard, 1996)
Mathews, D. (2021). Cascadia revealed: A guide to the plants, Animals & Geology of the Pacific Northwest Mountains. Timber Press, Inc.
Turner, N. J. (2015). Ancient pathways, ancestral knowledge: Ethnobotany and ecological wisdom of indigenous peoples of Northwestern North America. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
