Aspen (Populus tremuloides)

This deciduous tree reaches 12-24 meters in height and often occurs in large clumps connected by underground roots. This species is dioecious; individual trees are either male or female, producing either male or female flowers. Both male and female flowers are tiny and arrayed in elongated clusters (catkins), which look like long, soft caterpillars. Populus tremuloides is the most widely distributed tree species in North America, and individual plants can be extremely large. For example, one male clone in Utah occupies 17.2 acres and has more than 47,000 stems. A single clone can be thousands of years old.The CPP four letter code for this species is POTR.