Plant Description
Upright tree with a narrow rounded crown, often with several trunks, reaching 98 feet tall. Bark dark gray to brown, smooth, breaking into shallow vertical plates with age.
Tall spreading crowns. Oval-shaped leaves, prominently veined, shallowly and doubly toothed, tapered at base. Female flower spikes smaller than male. Male flowers have 2 stamens. Fruit has overlapping papery scales giving appearance of small cone.
Habitat
Sandy or rocky stream banks and moist slopes.
Leaves
Dark green above and paler green and slightly hairy below. Elliptical shape 3 inches long by 2 inches wide with narrow base and doubly-toothed margins, secondary teeth distinctly larger.
Flowers
Male and female catkins on same tree. Males flowers are yellowish-green, elongated, catkins about 2 to 3 inches long in hanging clusters. Female flowers are very small (1/4 inch) reddish-green. Flowers appear before leaves in early spring.
Fruit
Cone-like, woody, 1/2 inch long, green but turning reddish-brown when ripe. Contains numerous small winged seeds that ripen in early fall and persist through the winter.