A medium-sized, intolerant tree most common on moist, well-drained sites throughout the eastern U.S. except for the coastal plain, piedmont and Mississippi delta with a wide, spreading crown and edible fruit. Wood is less valuable than J. nigra and parts of the tree are used for dye. Leaves are odd-pinnately compound with 17 oblong-lanceolate leaflets. Twigs are stout with a dark brown chambered pith. The leaf scar is truncate with a dense, hairy pad on top and 3 u-shaped bundle scars. The terminal bud is flattened with a few pubescent scales. Laterals are often superposed. Fruit is 2" and oblong-ovoid. The husk is covered with sticky pubescence and the nut is deeply corrugated with sharp ridges. Bark is light gray and divided by fissures into broad ridges which often interlace.