Family: Salicaceae
big-tooth aspen, large-toothed aspen
[Populus grandidentata var. angustata Michx., more...]
Matthew L. Wagner
Know Your Trees
University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)
Etymology: Populus: Latin for "poplar," derivation obscure
Plants: perennial tree with greenish-gray bark that darkens and furrows with time
Leaves: hairy when young becoming dark green on top and pale beneath; roundish to kidney-shaped; large teeth
Flowers: 2"-3" long, hanging catkin
Habitat: moist; streambanks, upland woods, often in burned or cut-over areas
Conservation Status: Native - potentially invasive
Plants: perennial tree with greenish-gray bark that darkens and furrows with time
Leaves: hairy when young becoming dark green on top and pale beneath; roundish to kidney-shaped; large teeth
Flowers: 2"-3" long, hanging catkin
Habitat: moist; streambanks, upland woods, often in burned or cut-over areas
Conservation Status: Native - potentially invasive
Dry to dry-mesic forests of oak, oak-pine, sugar maple-basswood, oak-aspen-red maple, oak-hickory, oak-red cedar, sugar maple-beech, oak-sugar maple, aspen-elm-birch-maple-balsam fir, hemlock-hardwoods, pine-red maple-spruce-oak-balsam fir. Pine relicts, pine barrens, rock outcrops, cliffs, blufftops, clearings, lakeshores, sandspits, old quarries, along roadsides and railroads, rock ledges along rivers, lake bluffs, wooded Lake Michigan dunes, jack pine savannas, invading prairies and oak savannas.
Populus grandidentata often grows with P. tremuloides and the two sometimes hybridize to form P. × smithii B. Boivin. The hybrids have more numerous, smaller, and more rounded teeth than P. grandidentata (Barnes, 1961) but have so far not been collected in Wisconsin. If leaves are not readily available, bark color of our two native aspens can be diagnostic. Bark of younger trunks of P. tremuloides is white while that of P. grandidentata is greenish or yellowish-gray. See also P. alba.
Flora of North America: Flora of North America Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 3, Wetland Indicator = FACU WIS DNR-Bureau of Endangered Resources: Detailed information on Wisconsin invasive species including decription, habitats, control methods USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos University of Wisconsin - Green Bay: Trees: Photos, descriptions, information Virginia Tech Dept. of Forestry, College of Natural Resources: detailed description and photographs
Matthew L. Wagner
Know Your Trees
Keir Morse
David Lee
