# Bigtooth Aspen (Populus grandidentata)

> Bigtooth aspen, Populus grandidentata: a medium tree of 50 to 80 feet for zones 3 to 6, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/bigtooth-aspen/

![A single bigtooth aspen leaf with large, blunt teeth along its edge, lying on gray lichen-covered rock](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/bigtooth-aspen-1000.jpg?v=5382f52d "A bigtooth aspen leaf in Grasett Township, in the Algoma District of Ontario, with the coarse teeth that name it. The tree flowers before its leaves come out, from March to May.")
*Photo: Fungus Guy, [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALarge-toothed_aspen_leaf_(Grasett_Twp).JPG))*

Medium tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 3 to 6; full sun or part shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow bigtooth aspen, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Bigtooth Aspen |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Largetooth aspen, big-toothed aspen |
| Form | Medium tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 80 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 40 |
| Zones | 3 to 6 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, erosion control |
| Flowers | March to May |
| Fruit | Capsules, May to June |
| First crop | 10 to 20 years (flowering begins at about 10) |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Bigtooth aspens are normally either male or female, so a female tree bears seed only with a male nearby. |
| Lifespan | Lives up to 150 years, and the oldest dated one reached 113. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, sandy barrens, rich moist slopes, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 24 states and the District of Columbia |

Bigtooth aspen is native in 24 states and the District of Columbia: [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bigtooth-aspen): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=bigtooth-aspen:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Slippery Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/slippery-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus rubra*): medium tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, rich moist slopes, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [American Persimmon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-persimmon/index.html.md) (*Diospyros virginiana*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Downy Hawthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/downy-hawthorn/index.html.md) (*Crataegus mollis*): small tree, 20 to 40 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares floodplain forests, sandy barrens, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Littlehip Hawthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/littlehip-hawthorn/index.html.md) (*Crataegus spathulata*): small tree, 10 to 26 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, rich moist slopes, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Devil's Walking Stick](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/devils-walking-stick/index.html.md) (*Aralia spinosa*): small tree, 10 to 20 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, rich moist slopes, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Sweetleaf](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweetleaf/index.html.md) (*Symplocos tinctoria*): small tree, 15 to 30 feet, zones 7 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, sandy barrens and rich moist slopes in the wild.
- [Every companion of bigtooth aspen in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=bigtooth-aspen)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, University of Minnesota Extension, Iowa State University Extension, the USDA PLANTS Database, the US Forest Service, the University of Illinois Extension and Virginia Tech's dendrology site.