Description:
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Medium to large deciduous tree. Bark greyish-brown, closely and vertically grooved. Leaves alternate, broadly oblong or ovate, up to 15 cm long, dark green above, paler beneath, usually hairless or with few hairs on the under surface, cordate at the base and 3-6 rounded lobes along the sides, divided no further than half way to the midrib; petiole short, usually less than 5 mm long. Flowers unisexual, wind-pollinated. Male flowers in narrow catkins, 2-4 cm long, arranged in clusters; female flowers small, brown with dark red stigmas, about 2 mm in diameter, at the tips of new shoots on peduncles 2-5 cm long. Fruits (acorns) borne in clusters of 2-3 on a long peduncle 4-8 cm long. Each acorn 1.5-4 cm long, ovoid with a pointed tip, whitish-green, becoming brown, then black, subtended by a shallow cup. |