Deciduous tree to 20-30 m tall. Bark soft and brown. Buds below the terminal ones have persistent wiry stipules. Young shoots hairy at first. Leaves and more or less oblong, about 5-15 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, dark glossy green above, grey hairy below; vein pairs mostly 7-14, margins with triangular teeth each with a minute point; tip pointed, base tapering or rounded. Leaf stalk 1-2 cm long. Acorns 2-3 cm long, flattened on top, cup covering about one third, the cup scales mostly bent back, stalk short or absent; Feb-Mar.

Caucasus Mts and Iran

Occasional hybrids with Q. cerris may be encountered.

Wiry stipules; leaves dark green and glossy above, hairy below, the toothing is symmetrical, each side of the leaf having the same number of teeth cf. Q. cerris; acorn with mossy cup having scales bent back.

VIC: Castlemaine (Castlemaine Botanical Gardens, 5 m in 1984); Hawthorn (Grace Park); Leongatha (Mossvale Park, several mature trees probably 70-80 years old in 1990, one near toilet 33 m tall in 1991); Yarragon Rd Avenue of Honour, about 12-14 m tall in 1986); Loch (roadside west end of township); Mont Albert (Primary School, rear entrance); Mt Macedon ('Forest Glades' about 20 m tall in 1984).

Source: Spencer, R. (1997). Fagaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.