Quercus bicolor grows rapidly and can reach 18 to 24 meters (60 to 80 feet) tall with the tallest known reaching 29 m (95 ft) and lives up to 285 years. The bark resembles that of the white oak. The leaves are broad ovoid, 12–18 centimetres (4+3⁄4–7 inches) long and 7–11 cm (2+3⁄4–4+1⁄4 in) broad, always more or less glaucous on the underside, and are shallowly lobed with five to seven lobes on each side, intermediate between the chestnut oak and the white oak. In autumn, they turn brown, yellow-brown, or sometimes reddish, but generally, the color is not as reliable or as brilliant as the white oak can be. The fruit is a peduncled acorn, 1.5–2 cm (5⁄8–3⁄4 in), rarely 2.5 cm (1 in), long and 1–2 cm (3⁄8–3⁄4 in) broad, maturing about six months after pollination. Good crops of swamp white oak occur every 3 to 5 years, with light crops during intervening years. The minimum seed-bearing age is 20 years, optimum age is 75 to 200 years, and maximum age is usually 300 years. Because the seed of swamp white oak is not dormant, it germinates soon after falling. Seed collections should be made soon after ripening in order to delay early germination. These acorns are difficult to store without germination or loss of viability occurring. Sound acorns have a germinative capacity between 78 and 98 percent. Gravity, rodents, and water are the primary dispersing agents (4,10).

Swamp white oak may live up to 300 years.