Erect shrub to 6 m, vigorously colonial by rhizomes; petioles 1-2 cm; lvs elliptic to lance-ovate, 6-12 cm, acuminate, finely serrulate, acute at base, finely hairy beneath, turning pale yellow in autumn, then deciduous; fls few-many in divergently branched cymes 2-4 cm wide on axillary peduncles 2-5 cm, 4-merous, brownish-purple, 6-8 mm wide; fr red, smooth, 1.5 cm thick, 4-lobed, sometimes 1-3 of the lobes reduced; aril bright red. Moist woods; N.Y. to N.D., s. to Fla. and Tex. June.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.