Shrub or small tree to 10 m, with glabrous twigs; lvs oblanceolate to narrowly obovate, 3–7 cm, rounded or obtuse at the tip, finely crenulate, narrowly cuneate at base, glabrous above, pubescent at least along the midvein beneath; fls in small peduncled fascicles, often on dwarf branches, 4–5-merous; sep entire; fr red; nutlets grooved on the back; 2n=40. Swamps and wet woods, chiefly on the coastal plain; D.C. to Fla. and Tex., n. in the interior to s. Ind., s. Ill., and s. Mo. May. (I. longipes)