LEAVES.—Alternate, simple, 4-7 inches long, 1-4 inches broad; oblong-lanceolate to obovate; coarsely toothed; thick and firm; lustrous, yellow-green above, pale-pubescent beneath; petioles slender, about 1 inch long.
FLOWERS.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; the staminate in hairy catkins 3-4 inches long; the pistillate sessile or in short spikes, hoary-tomentose; calyx campanulate, 5-8-lobed, yellow, hairy; corolla 0; stamens 5-8, with yellow anthers; stigmas red.
FRUIT.—Autumn of first season; sessile or short-stalked acorns; cup with small scales, hoary-tomentose, inclosing one-half of the nut; nut ovoid, about 3/4 inch long, light brown; kernel sweet, sometimes edible.
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud 1/8 inch long, conical, acute; scales chestnut-brown, scarious on the margin.
BARK.—Twigs greenish at first, becoming gray-brown, finally gray or brown; thin, silvery gray or ash colored and flaky on the trunk.
WOOD.—Heavy, very hard, strong, close-grained, durable, dark brown, with thin, pale brown sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.—Confined to the southern half of the Lower Peninsula.
HABITAT.—Prefers a limestone soil; dry hillsides; rich bottom-lands; rocky river-banks.
NOTES.—Grows uniformly until maturity. Leaves resemble those of the Chestnut. A form which differs from the type in having broader, obovate leaves broadest above the middle and a flaky bark has been described and named Quercus Alexanderi Britton.