WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud absent; lateral buds 1/8-1/4 inch long, ovate, acute, chestnut-brown.
BARK.—Twigs green, marked by numerous pale excrescences, later dark brown; thin, gray-brown and smooth on young trunks, but soon splitting off in large, thick plates, exposing the darker inner bark.
WOOD.—Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, light red-brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.—Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula north of Lansing.
HABITAT.—Prefers rich, alluvial soil along streams.
NOTES.—Suckers freely, forming low, broad thickets.