Size: tree, 70-80' average height at maturity
Buds: embedded in wood, barely visible through circular opening
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, up to 3' long, 2' wide, bipinnately compound with 3-7 pairs of pinnae, each with 6-14 leaflets that are 1.5-3" long, ovate or elliptic-ovate, acute tips, margins entire, pinkish to purplish when emerging, later dark green, changes to yellow in fall
Twigs: stout, contorted, larged heart-shaped leaf scars with tight bands beneath, pith salmon pink to brown
Flowers: greenish white, 4-5 petals, each .33" wide, up to 1" long, in large panicles on females (up to 12" on females and 4" on males), bloom May to early June
Fruit: leathery red-brown, flattened pod, up to 10" long, 2" wide, but more often half that size, persist through winter
Bark: rough with hard thin curling ridges, gray-brown to dark brown
