Plant: Large shrub or small shrubby tree, to 9 m tall; bark of older trunks reddish-brown; winter buds rounded to nearly acute apically, the scales 2-3 Leaves: blades elliptic or ovate-oblong (rarely ovate), 4-8 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, the bases rounded, truncate, or subcordate; margins doubly serrate, the major teeth acute to obtuse or rounded in outline, each comprised of several smaller teeth Inflorescence: catkins in clusters of 2-5, with 1 or more clusters on a branchlet; basal fruiting catkins of a cluster on peduncles 0-4 mm long; individual fruiting catkins spheroid to nearly cylindric, 0.7-2 cm long, 0.7-1.2 cm wide Flowers: STAMINATE FLOWERS each with 4 stamens; PISTILLATE FLOWERS usually 2 per scale Fruit: samaras, elliptic to obovate, the wings narrower than the body, irregular in shape REFERENCES: Brasher, Jeffrey W. 2001. Betulaceae. J. Ariz. – Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 33(1)