Leaves oblong or obovate, truncate, cuneate or rounded at the narrow base, 7 or rarely 5-lobed by wide and deep or shallow and oblique sinuses rounded in the bottom, the terminal lobe ovate, 3-toothed at the acute apex, the lateral lobes tapering gradually from the base or broad and obovate, coarsely repand-dentate with acute pointed teeth, or rarely entire, when they unfold dark red or purple and pilose above and coated below and on the petioles with thick silvery white tomentum, at maturity thick and firm, lustrous, dark yellow-green and glabrous or rarely pubescent above, light yellow-green or brownish and glabrous or pubescent, or occasionally hoary-tomentose below, 3′—6′ long, 2′—4′ wide; turning yellow or brown in the autumn before falling; petioles slender, yellow, 1′—2′ in length. Flowers: staminate in hairy aments 4′—5′ long; calyx pubescent, divided into 4 or 5 ovate acute segments shorter than the stamens; anthers bright red; pistillate on short tomentose peduncles, their involucral scales ovate, coated like the acute calyx-lobes with pale tomentum; stigmas dark red. Fruit short-stalked, solitary or clustered; nut oblong, ellipsoidal or obovoid, broad and rounded at base, full and rounded or gradually narrowed and acute at the puberulous apex, 1′—1½′ long, about ¾′ broad, light chestnut-brown, often striate, inclosed for one fourth to two thirds of its length in the deep cup-shaped cup light brown on the inner surface, and covered by thin ovate-lanceolate lustrous light chestnut brown scales, sometimes rounded and thickened on the back toward the base of the cup, their tips elongated, thin and erose on the margins, often forming a narrow fringe-like border to the rim of the cup. A tree, occasionally 100° high, with a trunk 3°—4° in diameter, stout spreading branches forming an open round-topped head, and branchlets coated at first with thick hoary caducous tomentum, bright red or brown tinged with red, and usually glabrous or pubescent or puberulous during their first winter, becoming dark red-brown in their second year; frequently much smaller and at high elevations a small shrub (f. _cibata_ Jeps.). Winter-buds ovoid, gradually narrowed and acute at apex, about ¼′ long, with closely imbricated pale chestnut-brown scales ciliate on the thin scarious margins and pubescent toward the point of the bud. Bark of young stems and branches smooth, light brown, becoming on old trunks 1′—1½′ thick, dark brown slightly tinged with red or nearly black, divided into broad ridges at the base of old trees and broken above into thick irregular oblong plates covered by minute closely appressed scales. Wood heavy, hard, strong, very brittle, bright red, with thin lighter colored sapwood; occasionally used as fuel.