Large tree, formerly attaining a height of 100 feet; trunk diameter up to 3 feet; crown broadly rounded.

 Dark brown, shallowly furrowed.

 Slender, reddish‑brown, angular, glabrous or nearly so; leaf scars alternate, half‑round, elevated, with several bundle traces.

Ovoid, pointed, up to % inch long, dark brown, smooth.

 Alternate, simple; blades lanceolate to oblong‑lanceolate, pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, up to 8 inches long and less than half as broad, coarsely toothed along the edges, yellow­green and smooth on the upper surface, paler and smooth on the lower surface; leafstalks up to V2 inch long, usually finely hairy.

 Staminate and pistillate borne separately, but on the same tree, appearing in June after the leaves are fully grown, without petals, greenish or yellowish, the staminate many in elongated catkins up to 8 inches long, the pistillate 1‑3 together.

 Spiny bur up to 2 inches in diameter, brown, splitting open to reveal 3 flattened nutlets.

  Virtually extinct, except for a few sprouts, due to a disease of the bark.

 In addition its large, spiny fruits, the Chestnut can be distinguished by its sharply toothed leaves. Yellow Chestnut Oak may sometimes have similar leaves, but the pith of the oak is star‑shaped and bears acorns. 

 Single tree on west lake trail.  

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Tree species facts from Robert Mohlenbrock , Forest Trees of Illinois , 1996