Plants 0.5-1.2 m. Stems erect, pubescent; spines at nodes 1-3, 4-8 mm; prickles on internodes absent. Leaves: petiole 0.6-1.8 cm, pubescent; blade roundish, 3-5-lobed, cleft 1/3-3/4 to midrib, 1.2-2.5 cm, base truncate to cordate, surfaces glabrous, softly ciliate, or puberulent or densely hoary-pubescent, not glandular abaxially, puberulent adaxially, lobes rounded, margins toothed, apex rounded. Inflorescences pendent, solitary flowers or 2-flowered racemes, 2-4 cm, axis short-pubescent, stipitate-glandular. Pedicels not jointed, 1-2 mm, pubescent, stipitate-glandular; bracts broadly ovate, 4-5 mm, pubescent, stipitate-glandular. Flowers: hypanthium maroon, narrowly tubular, 6 mm (1/2 as long as sepals), glabrous, puberulent, or densely hoary-pubescent, not stipitate-glandular; sepals not overlapping, reflexed, maroon, lanceolate, 7-10 mm; petals connivent, erect, white, oblong, inrolled, 3-5 mm; nectary disc not prominent; stamens 1.5-2 times as long as petals; filaments linear, 4-5 mm, glabrous; anthers maroon, lanceolate, somewhat sagittate, 3-4 mm, apex apiculate; ovary white-hairy and bristly, a few bristles gland-tipped; styles connate nearly to middle, 9-11 mm, glabrous. Berries palatable, purple, globose, 14-25 mm, pubescent, stipitate-glandular, longer hairs not gland-tipped, with long, stout, glandular or eglandular spines.
Forests, mixed evergreen forests, chaparral, woodlands, lowland gravel bars, roadsides, stream banks, canyon hillsides, subalpine ridges; at elevations from 100-2,900 metres.
Home