This is a short-lived pioneer species that arises after fires and logging and on abandoned fields, and is replaced by conifers. It is a medium sized poplar with a narrow crown, ranging between 30 and 60 ft. tall. The name comes from the leaves with distinctive toothlike lobes.

BUDS: White and hairy

TWIGS: Greenish hue; hairless or slightly silky.

BARK: On younger trees, greenish, smooth, and thin; becomes dark brown and furrowed into scaly ridges on older trees.

HABITAT: Sandy upland soils and floodplains.

RANGE: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec, and Ontario; south to Pennsylvania and Delaware, along the mountains to Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee; west to Minnesota.