Trees , often massive, formerly to 30 m, now persisting mostly as multistemmed resprouts to 5-10 m because of widespread destruction by blight. Bark gray, smooth when young, furrowed in age. Twigs glabrous. Leaves: petiole (8-)10-30(-40) mm. Leaf blade narrowly obovate to oblanceolate, 90-300 × 30-100 mm, base cuneate, margins sharply serrate, each tooth triangular, gradually tapering to awn often more than 2 mm, apex acute or acuminate, surfaces abaxially often without stellate trichomes, appearing glabrous but with evenly distributed, minute, multicellular, embedded glands between veins and sparse, straight, simple trichomes concentrated on veins, stellate or tufted trichomes absent. Staminate flowers with conspicuous pistillodes, whitish or yellowish straight hairs in center of flower. Pistillate flowers 3 per cupule. Fruits: cupule 4-valved, enclosing 3 flowers/fruits, valves irregularly dehiscing along 4 sutures at maturity, spines of cupule essentially glabrous, with a few scattered simple trichomes; nuts 3 per cupule, obovate, 18-25 × 18-25 mm, flattened on 1 or both sides, beak to 8mm excluding styles.

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"Tree to 30 m; lvs oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, coarsely and sharply serrate with ascending or incurved teeth, glabrous or nearly so, short-petioled; staminate catkins to 20 cm; mature involucres 5–6 mm thick, with very numerous spines 1 cm or more, the nuts 1.5–2 cm, usually 2 or 3 together, flattened on one or two sides; 2n=24. Original range from s. Me. to se. Mich., s. to Del., Ky., and s. Ill., and along the mts. to Ala., usually in acid upland soils; now nearly exterminated by blight."

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