Leaves 7′—15′ long, with slender petioles and rachis covered, like the under side of the midrib, with prominent persistent clusters of fascicled hairs mixed with silvery scales, and usually 7, rarely 9, lanceolate or oblanceolate leaflets, the terminal rarely obovate, finely serrate, resinous, fragrant, acuminate and long-pointed at apex, cuneate or rounded and often unsymmetrical at base, covered in spring with small silvery peltate scales, and at maturity light green and lustrous above, pale and pubescent or puberulous below, the terminal short-stalked or nearly sessile, 4′—6′ long and 1′—2′ wide, and as large or slightly larger than the upper lateral leaflets, those of the lower pairs usually not more than 2′ long and ½′ wide. Flowers: staminate in aments covered with fascicled hairs and silvery scales, 2½′—5′ long, puberulous and glandular on the outer surface, with linear acuminate bracts; stamens 4, anthers hirsute; pistillate usually solitary, oblong, covered with yellow scales, their bract ovate-lanceolate, ciliate on the margin. Fruit pubescent and covered with yellow scales, ellipsoidal to obovoid, broad-obovoid, subglobose to depressed-globose, and from ½′—1½′ in length, with a husk from ⅛′—⅙′ in thickness, splitting tardily to the base by 2 or 3 of the sutures, or occasionally remaining unopened until midwinter; nut white, rounded at the ends, or obcordate or obtusely pointed at apex, compressed, more or less prominently ridged nearly to the base, with a shell ⅛′—1/12′ thick; seed small and sweet. A tree occasionally 90°—110° high, with a tall trunk 2½°—3° in diameter, usually not more than 30°—40° tall, with a trunk 12′—18′ in diameter, stout branches, the upper erect, the lower often pendulous, and slender red-brown glabrous or pubescent branchlets. Winter-buds acute or obtuse, reddish brown, puberulous and covered with silvery scales, the terminal ¼′ long with 6—9 scales and rather larger than the lateral buds usually covered with fewer scales. Bark of large trees grown in good soil pale and slightly ridged, that of trees on dry ridges, rough, deeply furrowed, dark gray and southward often nearly black. Wood brown with nearly white sapwood; probably little used except as fuel.