The tree is distinguishable by its yellow inner bark, the color of a #2 pencil. The height typically ranges from 50 to 80 ft. tall but can reach heights of 100 ft. and live for 250 years.

BUDS: Multiple, clustered end buds that are densely pale wooly over the whole surface; large and ovate; long and narrowed above to a rather sharp point; numerous bud scales.

TWIGS: Stout, reddish-brown or reddish; occasionally has lenticels; tastes bitter if chewed.

BARK: On smaller trees, gray and smooth; on larger trees becoming blocky, dark, and thick, usually with shiny ridges.

HABITAT: Poor soils; on dry gravelly plains and ridges. Acorns are animal dispersed.

RANGE: Southern and western Ontario, south to northwest Florida, Gulf states, west to central Texas, north to southeast Minnesota.

USES: Timber is used commercially for firewood, railroad ties, pilings, and palettes. Bark was a source of tannin, yellow dye, and medicine (astringent).