quaking aspen

2 definitions found

quaking aspen - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Quaking \Quak"ing\,
     a. & n. from Quake, v.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Quaking aspen (Bot.), an American species of poplar
        (Populus tremuloides), the leaves of which tremble in
        the lightest breeze. It much resembles the European aspen.
        See Aspen.
  
     Quaking bog, a bog of forming peat so saturated with water
        that it shakes when trodden upon.
  
     Quaking grass. (Bot.)
     (a) One of several grasses of the genus Briza, having
         slender-stalked and pendulous ovate spikelets, which
         quake and rattle in the wind. Briza maxima is the large
         quaking grass; Briza media and Briza minor are the
         smaller kinds.
     (b) Rattlesnake grass (Glyceria Canadensis).
         [1913 Webster]

quaking aspen - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  quaking aspen
      n 1: Old World aspen with a broad much-branched crown;
           northwestern Europe and Siberia to North Africa [syn:
           quaking aspen, European quaking aspen, Populus tremula
           ]