The quivering aspen is one of the few tree species whose image has changed fundamentally in just 30 or 40 years. “When I finished my forestry studies and was still a young forestry student, the quaking aspen had absolutely no respect among us foresters and forest owners,” says Olaf Schmidt. “This tree is considered a water guzzler that competes with the economically valuable spruce and beech. Wherever quaking aspen is found, it is cut down and removed.”
Today everything is different. In times of climate crisis, which is causing severe problems for spruce trees in Bavaria and elsewhere, and increasingly for beech trees, the quaking aspen is considered a tree species with important potential. “It’s called a pioneer species,” said forest scientist Schmidt. “This means that wherever storms and pests damage holes or denuded areas in the forest, they are one of the first tree species to grow back. In this way, it helps protect the soil and quickly closes the gaps.” Both are properties that are now very important to the forest.
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Olaf Schmidt, 69 years old and president of the State Forestry and Forestry Institute in Freising-Weihenstephan for many years, is considered one of the best experts on forests and tree species in Bavaria. He was very happy when Dr. Silvius Wodarz recently named the 2026 earthquake aspen tree. Silvius Wodarz is a forester and founder of the award given annually by the foundation and its affiliated associations. “With him, quaking aspens now receive the recognition and attention they deserve,” Schmidt said. “It’s too late.”
Trembling aspen is also called aspen, the Latin name is Populus tremula, among foresters and forest farmers it is called aspen. Its name is derived from the phenomenon that “even a light breeze causes the leaves to shimmer and make them appear to be dancing,” as stated in the award’s reasons. In autumn, the leaves turn bright yellow. So trees are beautiful to look at, regardless of whether they stand together in a group, stand alone in a meadow, or form a highway.
Forester Schmidt praises quaking aspen as “a great all-rounder.” It thrives in sandy soils as well as in alluvial forest soils, can handle heat and also tolerates cold winter temperatures, “it just doesn’t like extreme drought,” as Schmidt puts it. The distribution area is also wide. It extends almost throughout Europe and most of Asia to North Africa. “It grows well everywhere in Bavaria,” Schmidt said. “Either in the mountains of Upper Bavaria or in Franconia.”
Additionally, aspen trees grow very quickly. “The height can be between 40 and 80 centimeters per year,” Schmidt said. “Overall, quaking aspens grow to a height of about 25 meters, sometimes even 35 meters.” And the stems become thick quickly. “Aspens that are 30 to 40 years old can have trunks that are 50 or 60 centimeters thick,” Schmidt said. The wood is of course not of very good quality. “It used to be used as paper wood,” Schmidt said. “Particleboard and plywood are also made from it.”
Trembling aspens are very important to the insect world, especially to butterflies. “A total of about 400 species of insects have been identified in quaking aspens,” Schmidt said, “including more than 200 species of butterflies.” One of them that is rare is the Great Kingfisher. With a wingspan of up to 75 millimeters, it is the largest native butterfly. You rarely see it because it spends most of its time in the treetops.
Birds also feel at home in aspen, including the middle-spotted woodpecker and the great-spotted woodpecker. “Once the aspens are thick enough, they like to hollow them out,” Schmidt said. “Because the wood is quite soft.” Unlike insects, quaking aspen does not play a significant role in the bird world. “The fruit is not for them,” Schmidt said. Rowan berry, for example, is very different and, like aspen, is a pioneer species. Its bright red berries are very popular with thrushes, robins, but also tits and starlings. As many as 60 species of birds have been found in mountain ash.
