Size: tree, 50-60' average height at maturity, 20-30' spread
Buds: imbricate, ovoid, each scale has a dark brown band at top
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 2-5" long, 1-1.75" wide, simple, oblong-ovate to oblong lanceolate, acuminate tip, serrulate with small teeth curving inwards, dark green above, light green below, yellow to red in fall
Twigs: slender, glabrous
Flowers: monoecious, white, .33", in pendulous clusters up to 6", bloom in May
Fruit: red, .33", changing to black
Bark: trunk gray-black or black with loosely appressed black scales (very distinct, like giant dark cornflakes glued to the tree)
