Plant Family: Betulaceae
Growth Form: Small shrubby understory tree with horizontal spreading branches; 10 to 12 meters tall.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, elliptic to ovate, finely double-toothed, the veins on the underside are straight and prominent and covered with fine hairs.
Bark: Smooth and gray, with longitudinal rounded ridges, producing a muscular appearance.
Flowers: Male flowers in hanging catkins about 4 cm long, female catkins shorter, seen April to May.
Fruits: Clusters of leafy three-part bracts with small ovoid seeds at the base; late summer to fall. The seeds are edible but rarely collected, best left for the squirrels.
Habitat: Found in deep rich soils along wooded streams, swamp edges, and in shady deciduous woods, sometimes on drier sites.
Range: Throughout the eastern United States and Canada.
Key Features: The leaflike fruit clusters, if present, are unique; at other times of the year the gray sinewy bark is distinctive.
Comments: The wood is heavy and hard, sometimes used locally for tool handles, but the trees are too small to be of commercial importance.
