Tall shrub, 2-10
m high; branchlets pubescent, slender, sometimes zigzag; leaves oval or obovate,
10-14 cm long, 6-10 lobed serrate, pubescent, acute-tipped, cordate based;
staminate catkins, 4-7 cm long, developing before the leaves come; pistillate
flowers clustered at the ends of short branches, very small with red elongate
styles protruding; involucre bristly, united to the summit; fruit a hard-shelled
nut, ovoid, 2.5 cm long (including the elongate involucre) edible; in open
woods, common.