Growth Form: Moderate tree up to 60 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 1½ feet; crown narrowly rounded.
Bark: Grayish-brown, shallowly furrowed, becoming somewhat scaly.
Twigs: Slender, pale brown to grayish, smooth; leaf scars alternate, U-shaped, with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Small, oblong, brown, up to one-sixth inch long.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades broadly lance-shaped, long-pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the base, up to 5 inches long, finely toothed along the edges, dark green and shiny on the upper surface, pale on the lower surface; leaf stalks up to ½ inch long.
Flowers: Staminate and pistillate flowers borne on separate trees, minute, crowded into elongated catkins, appearing as the leaves begin to unfold.
Fruit: Several rather broad, flask-shaped, brown capsules up to one-sixth inch long, crowded in elongated clusters.
Wood: Light weight, soft, pale brown.
Use: Fuel.
Habitat: Along streams, around lakes and ponds.