Trees or shrubs, large, irregular, to 20 m; trunks often several, trees with narrow crowns. Bark of young trunks and branches dark reddish brown, close, in maturity reddish white to reddish tan or bronze, exfoliating in paper-thin sheets; lenticels dark, horizontally expanded. Twigs glabrous to sparsely pubescent, often covered with conspicuous, warty, resinous glands. Leaf blade narrowly ovate to ovate with 9--12 pairs of lateral veins, 6--10(--14) × 4--8 cm, base usually cordate, rarely rounded, margins coarsely or irregularly doubly serrate, apex short-acuminate, abaxially sparsely to moderately pubescent, sometimes velutinous or tomentose along major veins and in vein axils, covered with minute, resinous glands. Infructescences pendulous or nearly pendulous, cylindric, 2.5--5.5 × 0.6--1 cm, shattering with fruits in fall; scales glabrous to moderately pubescent, lobes diverging proximal to middle, central lobe elongate, obtuse, lateral lobes ascending, shorter and slightly broader than central lobe. Samaras with wings broader than body, broadest near summit, extended beyond body apically. 2n = 28, 56.
