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Deciduous tree, to 70 feet tall, short
trunk, spreading. Thin, smooth blue-gray
bark. Leaves simple, alternate, 5-13 cm long,
acuminate apex (pointed), parallel veins,
9-14 pairs (F. sylvatica has 5-9
pairs), each ending in a small tooth, glossy
dark green above. Petiole 5 mm long or longer,
smooth. Buds large (2-2.5 cm long),
pointed. Fruit is a three-winged nut
(edible), enclosed by a prickly covering
(involucre), 2 cm long. Fruit smaller and
leaves have more veins (9-14 pairs vs. 5-9
pairs) than F. sylvatica.
Best in full sun, but will withstand part
shade. Robust in well-drained, moist acid soil;
will not stand compaction. It is difficult to
grow turf under it because of its shallow root
system.
Hardy to USDA Zone 3 Native range from
New Brunswick to Ontario, south to Florida and
Texas.
grandifolia: from the Latin
grandis, large, and folium,
leaf.
Buds shiny and olive green,
becoming brown to silver gray. Leaves alternate,
short-stalked, shiny dark green to bluish green
above, yellowish green beneath, 7 - 12 cm long,
3 - 6 cm wide, oblong to egg-shaped with a
short-pointed tip, coarsely toothed, with nine
to fourteen vein pairs. Leaves turn yellow to
bronze in fall, often persisting into winter.
Flowers either male or female, found on the same
tree (monoecious).
Male flowers hang from long stalks in yellowish
green spherical heads 2 cm wide. Female flowers
in spikes of two to four or near base of a male
flower head. Fruit consisting of one or two
edible nuts enclosed in a four-parted husk. The
husk is covered by recurved prickles, splits to
release nuts, and persists on the stem. Nuts
reddish brown, 1 - 2 cm long, three-winged. |
