Shrubs or trees, to 5 m, flowering at 2 m. Stems solitary; bark corky; branches splotched with maroon, brown, or red, eventually splitting along longitudinal swellings; branchlets green, densely appressed-hairy; lenticels maroon swellings, often erupting with corky surface. Leaves: petiole 5–10 mm, base encircling twig; blade elliptic, 4–9 × 2–4 cm, base cuneate, apex acute or short acuminate, abaxial surface yellow-green, appressed-hairy, tufts of erect hairs in axils of secondary veins, adaxial surface dark green, sparsely appressed-hairy; secondary veins 4–5 per side, most usually arising from basal 1/2. Inflorescences 10–15-flowered; peduncle 0–1 mm; bracts tan or brown, lanceolate, 0.5–1 cm, apex acute. Pedicels lax, apex flared. Flowers: hypanthium narrowly conic, appressed-hairy; sepals 0.1–0.5 mm; petals greenish yellow, lanceolate, 3–4 mm. Drupes maturing from green to yellow, red, then purple-black, ellipsoid, 10–15 × 5–7.5 mm; stone widely fusiform, 8–12 × 4–6 mm, with 2 lateral grooves on distal 2/3. 2n = 20.
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A tall deciduous shrub. It grows 3 m tall. The young shoots are green. The leaves are tapering. The flowers are small and bright yellow. They are in large bracts which fall off. They appear of bare wood. The fruit are purple-black and glossy.
An understorey plant, growing in moist ravines and along stream banks; at elevations from 60-2,000 metres.
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Temperate. It suits hardiness zones 7-9.
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