=Form=.—Height, 50-100 feet, diameter, 2-3 feet; trunk often long under forest conditions, in the open short; crown narrow or rounded.
=Leaves=.—Alternate, simple, oblong-ovate, acute, coarsely serrate, 3-5 inches long; dark blue green above, light green and very lustrous beneath, petioles short and hairy.
=Flowers=.—April-May; monoecious, staminate flowers in loose, light green globose heads, about 1 inch in diameter and hanging on long, slender peduncles; the pistillate small, 2-flowered, protected by awl-shaped bracts, and with long red stigmas.
=Fruit=.—A prickly bur, bearing 2 or 3 triangular brown nuts about ¾ inch long.
=Bark=.—On the trunk smooth, close, light gray and mottled with darker spots.
=Wood=.—Hard, strong, close-grained, not durable, light red, with yellowish-white sapwood.
=Range=.—Southern Canada and Wisconsin, south to Florida and Texas.
=Distribution in West Virginia=.—Common in nearly all parts of the State; less frequent or rare locally in the Eastern Panhandle and in Summers, Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties.
=Habitat=.—Prefers rich bottom lands but grows frequently on thin gravelly slopes and flats, sometimes growing at high elevations.
=Notes=.—This is one of the most familiar of our trees, except in a few restricted areas. It is shade-loving, and is a valuable tree in the farmers’ woodland. The wood is used principally for novelty wares, carpenters’ tool handles, clothespins, fuel and charcoal.
=Form=.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 3-5 feet; trunk, in close stands with few low branches and little taper; in the open having a short trunk and rounded crown.
=Leaves=.—Alternate, simple, oblong-lanceolate, taper-pointed, 6-8 inches long; coarsely serrate with incurved teeth, thin, dull, yellow-green, glabrous.
=Flowers=.—June-July; monoecious, the staminate borne in bunches at intervals on long catkins; the pistillate borne in scattered involucres near the base of the upper catkins.
=Fruit=.—A large prickly bur, opening at its four sutures in early autumn; nuts usually 2-3, compressed, ½-1 inch wide, brown, sweet and edible.
=Bark=.—Moderately rough, with shallow fissures and flat-topped ridges, gray-brown.
=Wood=.—Soft, light, not strong, easily split and worked, coarse-grained, durable, red-brown with light sapwood.