Size: shrub, 4-10' average height and spread at maturity
Buds: large, with loosely appressed ovoid scales
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 8-12" long, pinnately compound, each leaflet 3-4" long, .5-1" wide, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate with long acuminate tips, doubly and sharply serrate margins, deep green in summer, reddish tints on new leaves
Twigs: large, light-colored leaf scars and large brownish pith, cluster of small dry capsules at the end of almost every stem
Flowers: monoecious, white, .33", in large fleecy terminal clusters up to 10" long and 6" wide, bloom in midsummer
Fruit: dehiscent follicles
Bark: slightly exfoliating
