Size: tree, 70-100' average height at maturity
Buds: often large with glossy reddish-brown scales
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 4-7.5" in length and width, simple, 5-7 triangular acuminate lobes, finely serrate, shiny dark green above, changes to various forms of yellow, purple, or red in fall
Twigs: glossy, light brown, darker leaf scars, sometimes corky ridges
Flowering: monoecious, female on slender stalk, male in 3-4" terminal panicle
Fruit: spiny capsule with many seeds
Bark: gray-brown with deep furrows and narrow rounded ridged
