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The golden shimmer of aspen leaves fluttering in an autumn breeze, brilliant against a deep green background of conifer. Quaking aspen are even considered an aesthetic resource, as well as important for wildlife habitat and valuable as a wood resource. Aspens stand 40-70 feet in height, with
a smooth white trunk 1-2 feet in diameter. The tree is deciduous,
with leaves that are rounded and shine bright green until they turn yellow in the
fall. Two-inch catkin flower in very early spring, producing small narrow cones that split to release copious amounts of tiny, cottony seeds that are dispersed by the wind. Reproduction, however, is almost entirely vegetative; with suckers sprouting from existing root systems the aspen is a clone.
Aspens tend to grow in pure stands as a result of this colonial reproductive
strategy. This makes them visually cohesive in the landscape, and also
provides particular habitat that make them
an important tree ecologically. Combined with their ability to
exploit rare opportunities for sexual reproduction, this two-pronged reproductive strategy has enabled aspen to maintain a broad range spatially.
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