Quaking aspen
Populus tremuloides
The most widely distributed tree in North America — a slender, cool-climate deciduous tree famous for nearly round leaves on flattened stalks that flutter ("quake") in the lightest breeze and turn brilliant golden yellow in fall. Smooth greenish-white bark whitens to chalky white with black warty patches as it ages. In the wild, aspens grow in clonal groves rising from one shared root system, so an entire grove can be a single genetic individual, all male or all female.
Native: 38 US states + 13 CA provinces
Climate fit: broad (76/100)
Structure
Focal point
Light
Full sun
Water
Consistent moisture
Mature size
240-600" tall · 240" apart
Hardy in zones
1a-6b
brutally cold to cold winters
AHS heat range
1-6
Plant range authored in AHS heat-zone terms.
Native in Illinois
Yes
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A documented larval host for the Eastern tiger swallowtail and 5 other species — caterpillars feed on its foliage before becoming the next generation.
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Marginal
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Won't grow here
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
⚠→✕
Marginal today, but likely out of range by 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 26 ecoregions — 11 climate-resilient through 2070 · 15 suited today. Best matches first.
Plant this, not that
Better fit for this place
For Chicago, IL, these are replacement suggestions: similar plants with a stronger hardiness fit now and/or in 2050.
Populus deltoides
Eastern cottonwood
One of the largest and fastest-growing native hardwoods of eastern and central North America — a streambank and bottomland tree reaching 50-80 feet (occasionally far more) with a broad, open-rounded crown. Its glossy triangular (deltoid) leaves with coarse marginal teeth and flattened petioles flutter and clatter in the wind, and female trees release the cottony seed fluff that gives the tree its name. Fast, tough, and tolerant of drought and urban conditions, but messy and weak-wooded — Missouri Botanical Garden calls it generally inappropriate for ornamental or urban use, better suited to rural lowspots and stream corridors.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Celtis occidentalis
Common hackberry
A tough, widely adaptable native shade tree of central and northeastern North America, growing 40-60 feet tall and wide with a rounded, spreading crown. Mature gray bark develops the warty corky ridges that make it instantly recognizable, and the round purple drupes are edible and feed dozens of bird species. One of the most pollution- and stress-tolerant street and shade trees available — it shrugs off wind, urban conditions, and wet, dry, or poor soils alike.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Juniperus virginiana
Eastern red cedar
A tough, aromatic native conifer of eastern North America — actually a juniper, not a true cedar — with scale-like evergreen foliage and a broadly conical to columnar form. Missouri Botanical Garden calls it the most drought-resistant conifer native to the eastern U.S., thriving on limestone glades, fence rows, and abandoned fields. It is dioecious: female trees carry the powdery blue, berry-like cones that gave the cedar waxwing its name and feed many birds and small mammals through winter.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Prunus serotina
Black cherry
The largest native cherry of eastern North America — a medium-to-large deciduous shade tree that hangs elongated racemes of small white flowers in spring, then ripens drooping strings of pea-sized fruit from red to near-black in late summer. The fragrant white bloom feeds bees while the fruit is eaten by 33 species of birds and many mammals; it is also a workhorse larval host, supporting the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and a string of giant silk and sphinx moths. Every part except the ripe fruit is cyanide-bearing and toxic.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Similar plants
Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.
Thuja occidentalis
American arborvitae
A dense, conical-to-narrow-pyramidal evergreen tree native to eastern and central North America, prized as a screening and foundation conifer. Flat, fan-like sprays of scale-like, aromatic yellow-green foliage clothe the tree from the ground up, and red-brown bark exfoliates on mature trunks. Wild trees can reach 40-60 feet but cultivated plants typically stay near 20-30 feet; small urn-shaped cones and dense evergreen cover make it valuable food and shelter for birds.
Tilia americana
American basswood
A medium-to-large native shade tree of central and eastern North America, reaching 50-80 feet with an ovate-rounded crown and large, asymmetric heart-shaped leaves. In June it carries pale-yellow, intensely fragrant flowers on pendulous cymes — each cluster hung from a distinctive strap-like leafy bract — that ripen into pea-sized nutlets. The fragrant June bloom is a premier nectar source: Missouri Botanical Garden lists it as attracting bees and butterflies, and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center flags it as having special value to both native and honey bees.
Ilex opaca
American holly
The only native U.S. holly with both spiny green leaves and bright red berries — an upright, pyramidal, broadleaf evergreen tree that slowly matures to 15-30 feet in cultivation (to 50 feet in the wild). Thick, leathery, deep green leaves bear spiny marginal teeth, and pollinated female trees carry showy red-to-orange drupes that ripen in fall and persist through winter as bird food. This is the classic "Christmas holly" of wreaths and decorations.
Ostrya virginiana
American hophornbeam
A small-to-medium understory tree of dry, rocky eastern-North-American woods, named for its drooping clusters of papery, sac-like seed pods that resemble the fruit of hops. The birch-like, sharply-serrated leaves turn an undistinguished yellow in fall, and reddish-brown male catkins persist on the bare branches through winter. Also called ironwood for its extremely hard, dense wood; tough, low-maintenance, and drought-tolerant once established.
Diospyros virginiana
American persimmon
A tough, medium-sized native tree of the eastern and midwestern United States, grown as much for its showy edible orange fruit as for its distinctive thick, dark gray bark broken into rectangular blocks. Small urn-shaped white-to-greenish-yellow flowers open in May and June, and the sweet fruit ripens after frost. Largely dioecious — a female tree needs a male pollinizer nearby to set fruit — and notably drought- and walnut-tolerant once established.
Prunus americana
American plum
A small native deciduous tree (or thicket-forming, suckering shrub) of eastern and central North America, grown for clouds of fragrant white 5-petaled flowers that open in March before the leaves and for the edible red plums that follow in early summer. It forms a broad, spreading crown with attractive dark reddish-brown twigs that sometimes carry thorny lateral branchlets. A documented larval host for swallowtails and other butterflies, with flowers of special value to native, bumble, and honey bees.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). Retrieved 2026, June 24, from https://plotwright.com/plants/populus-tremuloides
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
Success tips
Designer notes
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Database
Botanical research database