Young t wigs are red-brown and shiny with stipular scars surrounding the twig.
Buds are green to purple, smooth and shaped like a duck's bill.
Bark is light gray with deep irregular grooves, as if cut with a pizza cutter, and black branch scars. Flowers are yellow with orange splotches and tulip-like. Fruit is a cone-like cluster of samaras. Intolerant of shade. Click on image to enlarge.