Unarmed deciduous shrub 1-3 m; lvs ovate to narrowly elliptic or lanceolate, the larger ones 3-7 נ1.5-4 cm, obtuse to subcordate at base, green and nearly glabrous above, densely whitish-lepidote-stellate and with scattered brownish scales beneath; fls in last year's naked axils; staminate fls with ovate, spreading sep 1.5-3 mm; pistillate fls with sep 1-2 mm, the mouth of the hypanthium occluded by pubescence; fr red or sometimes yellow, bitter, ellipsoid, 6-9 mm; 2n=22. Various habitats, often on calcareous substrate; Nf. to Alas., s. to N.Y., n. Ind., S.D., and Ariz. Apr., May, with the lvs.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.