Size: tree, 20-40' average height at maturity, 10-20' spread
Buds: glabrous or nearly so
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 2-3.5" long, 1.5-2.25" wide, simple, trianglular-ovate, long acuminate tips, coarse and usually double serration, shiny dark green, yellow in fall
Twigs: short "spur" branches on older wood, each terminated by a bud, no wintergreen fragrance or taste, resinous-warty, rough texture, bright red-brown or grayish
Flowers: monoecious, unlike alders, winter catkins of one type only (male; females look like regular buds), catkins usually solitary at end of branches, 2-3.5" long
Fruit: nutlets born on catkins up to 1.5"
Bark: white, chalky, dirty-white when older, prominent triangular black patches below branch attachments, does not peel easily (unlike B. papyrifera)
