Flowering Trees & Shrubs Codexery

Populus tremula

A deciduous tree known for trembling leaves and clonal colonies.

Last updated

The flat petiole of its leaves allows them to tremble in even slight breezes, which is the source of its scientific name.[1] In the Old World's cool temperate regions, a poplar species known as Populus tremula is indigenous.[2] This deciduous tree can reach heights of 40 m, widths of 10 m, and its trunk's diameter can exceed 1 m.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. CladeTracheophytes
  2. CladeAngiosperms
  3. CladeEudicots
  4. CladeRosids
  5. OrderMalpighiales
  6. FamilySalicaceae
  7. GenusPopulus
  8. GenusPopulus
  9. SpeciesPopulus tremula

Named by L.

Close relatives

Other species of Populus with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Populus tremula (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2017

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

Where the populus tremula has been recorded

Where the populus tremula has been recorded29 mapped locations from 776,998 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (776,998 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 472 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)

Biology and range

The male catkins are patterned green and brown, 5–10 cm long when shedding pollen.[3] Populus tremula's native distribution spans Europe and Asia, covering areas from Iceland and the British Isles eastward to Kamchatka, extending north into the Arctic Circle, and reaching south to central Spain, Turkey, the Tian Shan, North Korea, and northern Japan.[4] A single population of this species exists in northwest Africa, specifically in Algeria.[5] Within the southern portion of its distribution, this tree is found growing at elevated mountain altitudes.[5]

Mature trees produce leaves that are almost circular, measuring 2–8 cm across, being slightly broader than they are long; these leaves have coarsely toothed edges and a petiole that is flattened sideways and 4 to 8 cm in length.[1] On seedlings and rapidly growing sucker shoots, the leaves are heart-shaped or nearly triangular and can be considerably bigger, reaching lengths up to 20 cm.[6] Dioecious catkins, which are pollinated by the wind, emerge early in spring before the new foliage appears.[3] Female catkins are green and measure 2 to 6 cm at the time of pollination; they ripen in early summer, producing capsules that hold many tiny seeds within a downy fluff.[3]

This aspen, similar to others, propagates widely through root suckers that can emerge as far as 40 m from the original tree, thereby creating large clonal groups.[7] Because fallow deer find its taste unpleasant, the aspen is not heavily affected by their browsing.[8]

What the specialist sources record

GBIF Backbone Taxonomy accepts Populus tremula L. as a species in the family Salicaceae, and holds 787,543 occurrence records for this taxon as of 16 October 2026.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Populus tremula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wühlisch, G., "Eurasian aspen - Populus tremula: Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use", European Forest Genetic Resources Programme, 2009, p. 6 p (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Populus tremula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Omics Technologies and Crop Improvement", CRC Press, 2015, p. 50 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Populus tremula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Trees for Life Species Profile: Aspen; Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins .; Wühlisch, G., "Eurasian aspen - Populus tremula: Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use", European Forest Genetic Resources Programme, 2009, p. 6 p (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Populus tremula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Blæösp (Populus tremula) Vísindavefurinn"; James Kilkelly (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Populus tremula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins .; Den Virtuella Floran: Populus tremula (in Swedish; with maps) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Populus tremula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stace, "New Flora of the British Isles", Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 314 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Populus tremula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Trees for Life Species Profile: Aspen; Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Populus tremula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rackham, Oliver (1994). The Illustrated History of the Countryside. London : BCA. CN 2922.p. 64. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Populus tremula (taxon key 3040249). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Populus tremula (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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