Shrubs or trees to 20 m, flowering at 2 m. Stems clustered, bark forming square to rectangular plates 0.5–1 cm wide; branchlets green, maroon, or dark red, appressed-hairy; lenticels pale round or lenticular spots, with dark central pore. Leaves: petiole 5–17 mm; blade elliptic, ovate, or obovate, 6–15 × 3–9.5 cm, base broadly cuneate, apex short acuminate, abaxial surface pale green, appressed-hairy, tufts of erect hairs present in axils of secondary veins, adaxial surface yellow green, appressed-hairy; secondary veins 4–6 per side, most arising from proximal 1/2. Inflorescences convex, 1.5–3 cm diam., 40–75-flowered, subtended by pair of reduced leaves and pair of cataphylls; peduncle 40–60 mm; petaloid bracts 4–6, surrounding but not enclosing inflorescence through winter, white or tinged with pink, rhombic to obovate, 2.5–7 × 1.7–6 cm, apex short acuminate. Flowers: hypanthium appressed-hairy; sepals 1–1.5 mm; petals cream or yellow-green, rarely purple distally, 3–4 mm. Drupes red, closely appressed to each other, angular in cross section, 10–17 × 5–7.5 mm; stone ellipsoid, 7–9 × 4–5 mm, smooth. 2n = 22.
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A slender tree. It grows up to 9-15 m high. The trunk can be 30 cm across. In gardens it is often only a shrub. The bark is light grey and thin. It breaks into small plates with age. The leaves are clustered at the shoot tips. The leaves are opposite and 8-15 cm long. They are widest near the middle and taper to both ends. The tip is short and sharp. The base is broad and wedge shaped. The edges are wavy. The leaves are deep green on top and greyish-green underneath. The leaves turn yellow and red in autumn. The flowers are small and dull purple or green. They occur in compact flower heads which are 10-12 cm across with 4-7 pure white bracts. The small cluster of flowers at their centre is purple. The fruit are bright red and 10-12 mm across. The occur in dense packed round clusters. There are 30-40 in the group. They ripen in autumn.
It is native to western North America. Temperate. It suits cool, rainy climates in partly shady places. It is often along riverbanks and near the bottom of valleys. It is resistant to frost but damaged by drought. It suits hardiness zones 7-8. Arboretum Tasmania.
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