Leaf: Alternate, simple, pinnately-veined, ovate, with an acute tip and cordate base, singly or irregularly doubly, sharply serrate margins, 2 to 4 inches long, petiole is stout and pubescent, dark shiny green above, paler below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; preformed, green male catkins near the end of the twig, 3/4 to 1 inch long; females are upright, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, green tinged in red, appear or elongate (males) in mid-spring.
Fruit: Cone-like aggregate, brown, 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, scales hairless or nearly so, containing very small 2-winged nutlets, ripen and break apart in late summer and fall.
Twig: Twigs are slender, reddish brown and lenticellate with a wintergreen smell when cut. On older trees, spur shoots are apparent. Terminal buds are absent, lateral buds two toned, green and brown.
Bark: Reddish brown to black on young trees, later gray to nearly black; eventually breaking up into large, thin, irregular, scaly plates.
Form: A medium sized tree with a single straight trunk reaching up to 60 feet tall.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, pinnately-veined, rhombic to ovate, 1 1/2 to 3 inches long, conspicuously doubly serrate, with a wedge-shaped base, green above, paler and fuzzy below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; preformed, reddish green, male catkins near the end of the twig, 2 to 3 inches long; female catkins upright, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, light green, appear or elongate (males) in mid-spring.
Fruit: Cone-like, aggregate, 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, with many hairy scales, reddish brown, containing many tiny, 3-winged seeds, ripen and break apart in the fall.
Twig: Slender, orangish brown in color, smooth or slightly pubescent, with the terminal bud absent. Lateral buds may be slightly pubescent. No wintergreen odor when cut.
Bark: Smooth on young trees, salmon to rust colored; developing papery scales, exfoliating horizontally with several colors (creamy to orangish-brown) visible; later developing coarse scales.
Form: Medium size tree reaching up to 70 feet tall. The trunk generally divides low into several upright trunks.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, cordate in shape, 3 to 5 inches long and wide, with an entire margin, thin and papery, petioles conspicuously swollen on both ends; green above and slightly paler below.
Flower: Very showy, pea-like, pink to light purple in color, 1/2 inch long, appearing in clusters all along even older stems in early spring before the leaves.
Fruit: Flattened, dry legumes, brown, 2 to 4 inches long that contain flat, elliptical, brown seeds 1/4 inch long, maturing in late summer.
Twig: Slender and zigzag, nearly black in color, spotted with lighter lenticels, leaf buds are tiny and dark red to chestnut in color; flowers buds are round and often numerous in large clusters on older woody stems.
Bark: Initially smooth and brown; later ridged and furrowed to scaly and dark gray; may have some maroon patches evident and orange in the cracks.
Form: A large shrub or small tree up to 30 feet with a short, often twisted trunk and spreading branches.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, pinnately compound, 5 to 8 inches long, with 15 to 30 leaflets or bipinnately compound with 4 to 7 pairs of minor leaflets. Leaflets are 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches long, ovate to elliptical in shape, green to yellow-green.
Flower: Small, greenish yellow, displayed on 2 to 3 inch long narrow, hanging clusters, not showy, but very fragrant, appearing in late spring and early summer.
Fruit: A very distinctive, 6 to 8 inches long, flattened, red-brown, leathery pod that becomes dry and twisted; pod contains many oval, dark brown, shiny seeds, 1/3 inch long, maturing in late summer and early fall.
Twig: May be either stout or slender, prominantly zig-zag, red-brown to light brown in color, numerous lenticels and branched thorns. Lateral buds are very small and sunken.
Bark: Initially, gray-brown to bronze, and smooth with many horizontal lenticels, later breaking into long, narrow, curling plates. Often displaying clusters of large, branched thorns on trunk.
Form: A medium size tree with a typically short bole and an airy, spreading crown, reaches up to 80 feet tall.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, bipinnately compound, very large (1 to 3 feet long), with numerous 1 1/2 to 2 inch ovate leaflets, entire margins, green above, slightly paler below.
Flower: Species is dioecious; males and females in long (3 to 4 inch) branched clusters, whitish, appearing in late spring.
Fruit: Reddish brown, flat thickened pod, 3 to 8 inches long, 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, contains 6 or more dark brown seeds imbeded in a sticky pulp, ripen in late summer.
Twig: Very stout, light brown with whitish patches, somewhat zigzag or wavy, large heart-shaped leaf scar, salmon colored pith; buds small and sunken.
Bark: Dark grayish brown, scaly, developing deep fissures with scaly ridges.
Form: Medium sized tree, with a wide spreading crown, 80 feet tall, 2 feet in diameter.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, oblong to lanceolate, 5 to 8 inches long, pinnately veined, sharply and coarsely serrated with each serration bearing a bristle tip, dark green above and paler below, both sides are hairless.
Flower: Species is monoecious; many small, pale green (nearly white) male flowers found tightly occuring along 6 to 8 inch catkins; females found near base of catkins (near twig); appearing in late spring to early summer.
Fruit: Large, round spiny husk (very sharp), 2 to 2 1/2 inch in diameter, enclosing 2 to 3 shiny, chestnut brown nuts, 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter, mostly round but flattened on 1 or 2 sides ripen in early fall.
Twig: Moderately stout, hairless, chestnut- to orange-brown in color, numerous lighter lenticels; buds are orange-brown, 1/4 inch long, covered with 2 or 3 scales (they somewhat resemble a kernel of wheat), buds are set slightly off center from semicircular leaf scar.
Bark: Smooth and chestnut-brown in color when young, later shallowly fissured into flat ridges, older trees develop distictive large, interlacing ridges and furrows. Blight infested bark is sunken and split, often with orange fungal fruiting bodies.
Form: Once a very tall, well formed, massive tree reaching over 100 feet tall. The chestnut is now found mostly as stump sprouts, less than 20 feet tall. Larger stems are often deformed by blight and sprouting below cankers.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, pinnately veined, oblong, 5 to 8 inches long, coarsely serrated (but not as strongly toothed as American chestnut), shiny green above and paler and fuzzy below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male flowers are small and white, borne in long (4 to 5 inches) slender catkins, very fragrant; female flowers are borne on short aments, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, appearing in early summer.
Fruit: Large spiny (very sharp) bur 2 to 3 inches in diameter, each contains 2 to 3 edible nuts, 1 to 1 1/4 inches in diameter, shiny brown, typically flattened on 1 to 2 sides, ripen in late summer.
Twig: Moderately stout, tan to olive-brown with prominent lenticels, gray fuzzy; buds are gray-brown and pubescent, offset from leaf scar, covered with 2 to 3 overlapping scales.
Bark: Gray-brown to brown, furrowed, but without distinguishable patterns.
Form: A small tree with low branching and a rounded crown, reaching up to 40 feet tall.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, oblong to lanceolate, 3 to 6 inches long, pinnately veined, coarsely toothed margin, green above and much lighter and fuzzy below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male flowers are small and pale yellow, borne on semi-upright catkins 4 to 6 inches long; female flowers are borne on the base of some of the same catkins, 1/8 inch long, appear in late spring.
Fruit: Small, bur covered with sharp spines, 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, often the burs occur in clusters on stems; each bur contains a single, shiny chestnut brown, ovoid nut. Nuts are edible and quite sweet when mature in the fall.
Twig: Slender to moderate, reddish brown, often with gray fuzz; buds are also gray-brown and fuzzy, covered with 2 to 3 visible bud scales.
Bark: Light, reddish brown in color, shallowly furrowed with scaly plates on large stems.
Form: A large shrub or small tree up to 25 feet tall that can form dense thickets when growing in bright sunshine.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, 3 to 7 inches long, broadly lanceolate, unlobed with a single, terminal bristle-tip, somewhat leathery, shiny dark green above and paler and fuzzy below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male flowers borne on hanging slender catkins; females borne on short spikes, appearing with the leaves in spring.
Fruit: Acorns are 5/8 inch long, 1/3 to 1/2 covered by a thin, bowl-shaped cap with appressed light brown scales, matures in the fall after two years.
Twig: Slender, olive-green to orange-brown, quite lustrous with conical, pointed, red-brown buds.
Bark: Gray-brown, tight and quite hard, with broad, irregular ridges and very shallow furrows.
Form: A medium sized tree to 70 feet with pyramidal to oval and later rounded crown. Lateral lower branches often droop.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, 6 to 12 inches long, roughly obovate in shape, with many lobes. The two middle sinuses nearly reach the midrib dividing leaf nearly in half. The lobes near the tip resemble a crown, green above and paler, fuzzy below.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male flowers are yellow-green, borne in long, drooping slender catkins, 2 to 4 inches long; female flowers are green tinged in red and appear as single, short spikes, both appear shortly after the leaves.
Fruit: Acorns are quite large (1 1/2 inches long) and 1/2 enclosed in a warty cap that has a long-fringed margin, maturing in one growing season in late summer and fall.
Twig: Quite stout, yellow-brown, often with corky ridges; multiple terminal buds are small, round, and may be somewhat pubescent often surrounded by thread-like stipules; laterals are similar, but smaller.
Bark: Ashy gray to brown in color and quite scaly, but noticeably ridged vertically on large trees.
Form: A large tree that often reaches over 100 feet tall with a long clear bole. In the open it becomes a very wide, spreading tree.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, 3 to 6 inches long, oval in outline with 5 to 9 bristle-tipped lobes and irregularly deep sinuses that extend nearly to the midrib. Major lobes form a U-shape. Bright green above and pale below with axillary tifts.
Flower: Species is monoecious; male flowers borne on slender, drooping yellow-green catkins; females reddish green borne on short spikes in new leaf axils, appearing in the spring with the leaves.
Fruit: Acorns are 1/2 inch long, striated, round (but flattened at the cap); thin and saucer-like cap, covered with red-brown appressed scales; matures after 2 years, dispersed fall to early winter.
Twig: Slender, red-brown in color and quite lustrous with multiple terminal buds that are small, pointed, and chestnut brown.
Bark: Gray-brown and very tight and thin; remains smooth for many years, eventually develops thin ridges and furrows.
Form: A medium sized tree that is very pyramidal; lower branches are pendulous and middle branches grow at right angles; branches are studded with numerous branchlets that do not prune readily, resulting in a spiny appearance.

Notes:

Leaf: Alternate, simple, 2 to 5 inches long, linear or lanceolate in shape (willow-like) with an entire margin and a bristle tip.
Flower: Species is monoecious; males borne on slender yellow-green catkins; females borne on very short axilliary spikes, both appear very early with the leaves.
Fruit: Acorns are very small, 1/4 to 1/2 inch across, nearly round and yellow-green, turning tan when older, caps are thin, saucer-like and cover only 1/4 of acorn with thin, tomentose, appressed scales.
Twig: Slender, hairless, olive-brown in color when young; multiple terminal buds are very small, reddish brown and sharp-pointed.
Bark: On young stems, smooth, gray and tight; later becoming darker and forming irregular rough ridges and furrows.
Form: A medium sized tree up to 80 feet tall that forms a dense oblong crown when open grown; lower branches do not readily self-prune.

Notes:

Leaf: Evergreen needles, stiff, 1/3 to 3/4 inch long, square in cross section, needle tips are pointed but not sharp, when crushed a pungent odor is apparent (some say similar to cat urine), green to gray-green. Each needle borne on a raised, woody peg (sterigma).
Flower: Species is monoecious; males emerge reddish but turn yellow when shedding pollen; females purple.
Fruit: Cones are 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches long, cigar shaped, light brown in color, scales are rounded with entire margins, mature in late summer.
Twig: Slender, light brown or pale, sometimes glaucous, hairless. Needles borne on woody pegs.
Bark: Thin, gray-brown in color, smooth, later flaky or scaly.
Form: Conical, medium sized trees reaching up to 90 feet tall.

Notes: