When young, the crown is weakly pyramidal, becoming rounded, with ascending, spreading branches at maturity. The deciduous leaves are simple, alternate, and 2 to 4 inches long. The veins form a network near the margin, with the three principal veins meeting at a single point at the base, which is rounded and uneven. The margins are coarsely toothed but entire near the base.
Leaves are thin, papery and rough above, and paler and hairy along the veins underneath.
The dull, light green leaves change to a light yellow or yellow-green in the fall. The very small, greenish-yellow, apetalous flowers appear solitary or in bunches of 2 or 3 in the axils of the emerging leaves in spring. A single, hard, brown seed is enclosed by orange-colored flesh that tastes like a prune or a date. The buds are 0.25 inches long, ovoid, pointed and closely appressed to the twig. A terminal bud is absent.