Tree with straight trunks and grows to 20 feet, useful in partially shaded or full shade areas. Leaves 3", rounded or heart-shaped, quiver in the breeze. Golden yellow colour in fall. Habitat is many soil types, from sandy to gravely slopes, stream banks to mountain slopes. Short-lived. Best used in grouping, naturalized gardens. Spreading roots send up new shoots that develop into trees. A "grove" of aspen is often biologically only one plant with all the trees sharing a root system. A "pioneer tree" after fires and in abandoned fields, it is short-lived and often replaced by conifers.