LEAVES.—Alternate, compound, 1-2 feet long. Leaflets 13-23, the terminal often lacking, 2-4 inches long and one-half as broad; sessile; ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed; sharp-serrate; thin; yellow-green and glabrous above, lighter and soft-pubescent beneath. Petioles stout, pubescent. Foliage aromatic when bruised.
FLOWERS.—May, with the leaves; monoecious; the staminate in cylindrical, greenish, drooping catkins 3-5 inches long; calyx 6-lobed, borne on a hairy bract; corolla 0; stamens numerous, with purple anthers; the pistillate solitary or several on a common peduncle, about 1/4 inch long, their bracts and bractlets hairy; calyx 4-lobed, pubescent; corolla 0; styles and stigmas 2.
FRUIT.—October; globose, 1-1/2-2 inches in diameter, smooth, not viscid; solitary or borne in clusters of 2-3; nuts with irregularly furrowed shell, inclosing a sweet, edible kernel.
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud 1/3 inch long, ovoid, obliquely blunt, slightly flattened, silky-tomentose.
BARK.—Twigs brownish and hairy, becoming darker and smooth; thick, brownish or blackish on the trunk and deeply furrowed by broad, rounded ridges.
WOOD.—Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, very durable in contact with the soil, rich dark brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.—Lower Peninsula as far north as Bay City, but more abundant in the southern portion of its range.
HABITAT.—Prefers rich bottom-lands and fertile hillsides.
NOTES.—Leaves appear late and fall early. Fruit very aromatic. Pith chambered, cream colored. The juices from the husk stain the hands brown. Not easily transplanted. Often infested with caterpillars.