Leaves: alternate, simple, 12.7-22.9 cm long; oval to obovate; 5-11 lobes with coarse-toothed, bristle-tipped lobes tapering from broad bases; oblique, rounded sinuses; dull dark green above, paler green beneath; turning red in autumn; glabrous
Flowers: spring, monoecious, greenish; male catkins hairy; female flowers on short, glabrous stalks; wind pollinated
Fruit: acorn 19-38 mm long; cup shallow, usually enclosing only the base of the nut; scales closely appressed, bright reddish brown; maturing in autumn of second season
Twigs: moderately stout, lustrous, green, becoming reddish and finally dark brown
Bark: moderately thick; on young trees smooth, grayish brown; on old trees darker and shallowly fissured into long, broad, flat and smooth-topped ridges
Range: Appalachian Mountains, northeastern U.S., Lake States; occasionally planted as an ornamental outside natural range
Importance: very valuable for timber; acorns used by wildlife; ornamental