Rhizomatous, colonial shrub (0.2-)1-2(-4) m; twigs and pedicels rather densely villous or tomentose, varying to rarely glabrous; petioles 3-10 mm; lvs elliptic or oblong-lanceolate to obovate, 3-7 cm, acute to short-acuminate, ±densely tomentose beneath, varying to rarely glabrous (the glabrous plants sometimes occurring well beyond the range of no. 2 [Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott]), turning bright red in the fall; sep usually conspicuously glandular; pet 4-6 mm; fr bright red, 4-10 mm thick, maturing late and persisting into winter; 2n=34. Bogs, swamps, and wet woods, less often in dry soil; Nf. to Fla. and Tex., southward especially on and near the coastal plain, but also in the mts., extending to Ky. and W.Va. Apr.-July, fr Sept.-Nov. (Pyrus a.)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
