Size: tree or shrub, 20-30' average height at maturity, 20-35' spread
Buds: laterals often larger than terminal, true terminal absent, individual bud scales usually have dark margins, buds on short stalks
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 2-5" long, 1.5-2.5" wide, simple, ovate or ovate-oblong to elliptic, acuminate tips, margins entire, yellow-green in summer, yellow or yellow-green in fall
Twigs: firm, glabrous, brown, 1 bundle scar
Flowers: monoecious, white or light pink, bell-shaped, up to 1" long, 4 lobes, in clusters of 2-5 from axils of year-old wood, bloom April-May
Fruit: 4-angled capsule
Bark: exfoliates in fine sheets on wood older than 2 years
