Size: tree, 50-70' average height and spread at maturity
Buds: fusiform, 2-ranked, many scales, more slender than F. sylvatica, lower bud scales glabrescent)
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 2-5" long, .75-2.5" wide ovate-oblong, acuminate tips, coarsely serrate, simple, dark green in summer, golden bronze in fall, leaves may persist through winter, especially on lower parts of tree
Twigs: zigzagged, light gray, glabrous
Flowers: monoecious, males in globose heads, females usually in short spikes, bloom in April to early May
Fruit: not (2-3), triangular in cross-section, .5" long, in prickly involucre up to .75"
Fruit: a nut (or several), triangular in cross-section, about .5" long in prickly involucre about .75"
Bark: smooth, light blue-gray, almost silvery on young stems
