A tree 10–30 ft. high or more with the habit of an Alder; sap watery-viscid rather than milky; trunk whitish, erect; branches smooth, spreading, glabrous; branchlets numerous, spreading, softly tomentose towards the tips or sometimes nearly glabrous. Leaves evergreen, ovate or oblong-ovate, rounded, obtuse or shortly acuminate, rounded and often a little unequal-sided at the base, 2 1/2–11 in. long, 1 1/2–5 in. broad, subchartaceous, coarsely and irregularly obtusely repand-dentate, 3-nerved at the base, slightly pubescent on the nerves and veins or rarely glabrous above, rather densely pubescent with soft spreading hairs below especially on the midrib and lateral nerves, remaining lateral nerves 5–7 on each side of the midrib, slightly arcuate, diverging from the midrib at an angle of about 45°, looped and branched near the margin, prominent on both surfaces especially below; tertiary nerves lax, subparallel; reticulation minute, delicate; petiole up to 3 3/4 in. long, pubescent or almost tomentose; stipules caducous, ovate-lanceolate, subacutely acuminate, about 1/2 in. long, coriaceous, densely adpressed-pubescent outside, glabrous within. Receptacles sometimes on separate crowded panicles borne on the lower part of the trunk, or sometimes on the same tree solitary in the axils of the leaves on the ultimate branchlets, pedunculate, globose, 3/4–1 in. in diam., densely and softly villous-tomentose; peduncle 2–4 lin. long, rather stout, tomentose or shortly pubescent. Basal bracts 3, small, rather coriaceous, becoming glabrous. Ostiole inconspicuous, or at length with the bracts considerably projecting, the outer bracts broadly ovate, shortly pubescent, the innermost descending into the receptacle, linear, obtuse, about 2 lin. long, glabrous. Male flowers with 1–4 stamens. Female flowers with narrow acute membranous perianth-segments. Gall flowers pedicellate.
