Tree with straight trunks, grows to 20 feet, useful in partially shaded or full shade areas. Leaves 3", rounded or heart-shaped, quiver in the breeze. Golden yellow color in fall. Habitat is many soil types, 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.