Terminal buds are absent. Buds are superposed, small, silvery, silky, and often hidden by the leaf base. Leaf scars are horseshoe-shaped. Branches are reddish-brown in the second year. Flowers are small with unisexual and bisexual flowers on the same plant.
Flowers are greenish-white and unpleasantly scented.
This tree flowers in June. Fruit matures in September or October. The fruit consists of a small, round, two-seeded, winged samara resembling paper caps for toy pistols. They occur in dense, drooping clusters and hang on the tree over winter. Fruit matures in September or October.