Size: tree, 25-30' average height at maturity, 15-25' spread
Buds: light brown, terminal usually absent, several pairs of imbricate scales
Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 2-5.5" long, 1-2.75" wide, simple, broad to ovate, margins entire, tips acuminate, dark green above, gray-green below
Twigs: conspicuous raised leaf scars, not connected, bundle scars in a relatively straight line
Flowers: monoecious, creamy white and fragrant, in large terminal panicles, 6-12" long and wide, bloom in early June
Fruit: dehiscent capsule, .75"
Bark: purplish black to blackish, long horizontal lenticels on trunk and older branches, scaly on older trunks
