Growth Form: Moderate tree up to 80 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 4 feet; crown broadly rounded or occasionally flat-topped.
Bark: Reddish-brown to gray, with shallow furrows; the inner bark becomes slippery when chewed.
Twigs: Rather stout, reddish-brown, with short, gray hairs; leaf scars alternate, half-round, each with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Nearly round, up to one-fourth inch in diameter, with rusty-colored hairs.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades oval to elliptic, pointed at the tip, strongly asymmetrical at the base, up to 7 inches long, about half as wide, coarsely doubly toothed along the edges, the upper surface green and very rough to the touch, the lower surface smooth or hairy; leafstalks stout, hairy, up to one-half inch long.
Flowers: In drooping clusters, appearing before the leaves unfold, greenish, hairy, small.
Fruit: Circular, winged fruits up to three-fourths inch in diameter, not hairy except over the seed, each wing surrounding a single seed.
Wood: Heavy, strong, dark brown.
Uses: Shipbuilding, farm implements, fence posts.
Habitat: Bottomland woods; along streams; rocky, upland woods.