with …

bark=smooth white, black marks;  buds and twigs have white powdered, easily rubbed off
◼︎ white poplar  Populus alba

tree=very tall thin, many small branches
🇪🇺 ◼︎ European black poplar  Populus nigra

tree=small, bark=light gray (darker at base);  forming colonies;  buds=​shiny, against twig
quaking aspen  Populus tremuloides
tree=small, bark=light gray (darker at base);  forming colonies;  buds=​dusty gray away from twig
big-toothed aspen  Populus grandidentata

Learn more about aspen/​cottonwood/​poplar genus Populus (Populus spp.)

Part of willow  family Salicaceae.

Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)

Populus hosts caterpillars of 367 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.

Often grows in clonal colonies [1] —look around for other stems!

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🏠︎ 🌳︎🍃︎ broadleaf branches, ╟ alternate, list of attributes, no catkins, thorn-like twigs 🌳︎🍃︎ broadleaf branches, ╟ alternate, list of attributes, no catkins thorns pods, terminal buds not larger