Chiquapin oak, a tree that can reach 30m+ in height, is monoecious and wind pollinated. The male flowers are borne in catkins that develop from the leaf axils of the previous years, the female flowers develop from the axils of the current year's leaves. Buds brown to red-brown, somewhat round to broadly egg-shaped, 20-40mm x 15-25mm with a rounded apex, very sparsely covered with short, fine hairs. Its acorns are ~2cm long, almost sessile or on an axillary stalk to 8mm long, acorn caps are hemispheric or shallowly cupped, 4-12mm deep by 8-22mm wide, enclosing 1/4-1/2 of the nut. Its leaves are oblong, 7.5-15cm long and 3.8-7.5cm wide, coarsely and sharply toothed, thick and firm, and light yellow-green above to silvery white below. Its bark is gray, thin, flaky to papery.
It can be distinguished from other oaks by it leaves with sharp teeth but lacking sinuses. Although leaves of American beech (Fagus grandifolia) are similar to Chinquapin oak, the beech has smooth bark while this species has shallowly fissured and flaky bark.
