This small tree is well-named, its branches clad in dense hairs like a stag’s antlers in velvet.

Native to eastern Canada and central and eastern USA. Introduced by 1610.

Dioecious. Insect-pollinated. Seeds dispersed by birds. Suckers vigorously.

Small (6m), short-trunked, with a flat-topped crown. Twigs thick and hairy; buds (4mm) orange, alternate, scaleless and velvety, hidden by the leaf stalk in summer. Leaves large (60cm), compound pinnate with 25 oblong-lanceolate serrate leaflets (10cm), initially brown-haired then glabrous. Male trees bear green flower panicles; female trees bear denser pyramidal panicles (10-20cm) of crimson flowers, maturing into crimson-haired fruiting spires that last until the following spring.

Hardy to -20°C. Grows in almost any soil. Removal of suckers often necessary.

Attractive to pollinators. Tendency to spread can be problematic.

Generally healthy.

Ornamental.