They loose their leaves in the fall and grow new ones in the spring. Their bark is smooth with a light green to white color when they are young. As they age their bark becomes darker with dark rough ridges and diamond shaped patterns. Quaking aspen can live in many different habitats. They are a very fast growing tree and often grow in areas that have recently been disturbed by logging, fires, or other things that cause openings in the forest for light hungry, fast growing plants.
Quaking aspen can produce clones which are genetically the same as their parents.
These clones grow out of the roots of their parent tree. Often the trees covering several acres are all genetically the same because they came from clones off the same tree. However, most of the ones in the border country are an acre or less. Quaking aspen are found farther north than most other deciduous trees. The thicker, whiter, bark on the south side of a quaking aspen helps protect it from the freezing and thawing that occur in winter in the far north.