Large tree with open crown, fast growing to 100 feet or more. Large green leaves, silvery beneath, turn yellow in fall. Habitat is moist to wet soils, stream bank and flood plains. Bees collect the resin which is an anti-infectant for hives. Native American uses: sweet inner bark and cambium tissue eaten in late spring and early fall as soon as it was harvested. Buds were used for medicinal purposes. Used gum from spring buds as a glue to adhere arrowheads and feathers to shafts of arrows. Dugout canoes.