Native to the mild temperate areas of eastern North America and the mountainous tropical areas of Mexico and Central America.

It is a tree with an oval silhouette, deciduous, often planted in public gardens for the beauty of its foliage colour in autumn; the young trees feature tall, conical crowns, while the mature trees have rounded, extensive crowns. Its trunk has reddish-brown and slightly cracked to scaly bark, becoming later greyish-brown and slightly wrinkled. It grows slowly initially, but faster after the age of three. It ranges in height from 15 to 45 metres and can get to an age of up to four hundred years.

The leaves are star-shaped with three to seven long, serrated lobes, bearing long petioles which are dark green, smooth, and shiny, turning to different shades of light green, yellow, orange, and red in autumn, often simultaneously. It is monoecious, bearing both male and female flowers on the same stem. In spring, green inflorescences emerge.

The fruits are globose, brown, covered by thorns, woody capsules when ripe.  Its wood is of superior quality, with medium density and texture, dark in colour, and easy to work with.

It should be grown in full sun, preferably in sandy-clayey, neutral, moist soils, but with good drainage, for full root development; it can nevertheless grow in other types of soil. The plant’s need for water is considerable and it is important to irrigate in the first years after planting; once well settled, it is capable of enduring short periods of drought. It reproduces by layering and by seed.