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QUAKING ASPEN

NOMENCLATURE

Other Names: aspen

 Scientific Name: Populus tremuloides Michx.

 Plant Family: Salicaceae

GENERAL INFORMATION

Botanical Description: woody, deciduous tree

 Stems: white, peeling, papery outer bark with brown or black horizontal lenticils, 20 - 60 feet high when mature, slender and rapid growing

 Leaves: heart-shaped to circular, green above, silver below, gently serrated edges

 Roots: deep, spreading, sprouting at nodes

Flowers: green to light green, dangling on thin stems, clusters half sheathed

Seeds: Found in slender, conical, 2-valved capsules that are 1/8 to 1/4 inch long.

 Seedling: Noted for its characteristic leaves, fast growth.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

LIFE CYCLE

Reproduction: perennial

 Propagation: seed, underground rootstock

 Dispersal: airborne seed, shoots from nodes on spreading underground roots

DISTRIBUTION

State: Common throughout Wisconsin.

 National: Found northward as far as Alaska, southward as far as California to Virginia.

 Origin:

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Tolerates dry or moist soils. Often grows along stream banks and in poorly drained soils. Commonly found in woodlands adjacent to cranberry marshes. Can invade both new plantings and established beds. Rapid growth is a competitive threat to cranberries.

SCOUTING PROCEDURE/ET

While scouting a cranberry bed for disease and insect pests, identify weed populations as they arise. Note the specie(s) of weed present as well as the population level relative to field area. Example: 10% quaking aspen, 20% boneset and joe-pye weed mix.

REFERENCES

Gleason, H. A. 1952. Illustrated Flora of the United States and Adjacent Canada. Vol 2. Lancaster Press, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. p. 3.

Kummer, L. D., T. G. Dittl, and T. D. Planer. 1993. Wisconsin Cranberry Weeds. Wisconsin Cranberry Board, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. p. 23.

 

McGregor, R. L. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. p. 280-281.

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