Shrub to 3 m, with glabrous twigs; lvs elliptic to oblanceolate or obovate, 4-8 cm, usually distinctly acuminate, serrulate over most of their length with appressed or salient teeth, acute or cuneate or base, usually sparsely villous on the veins beneath; fls 6-8-merous, 1 or 2 in an axil, the staminate on slender pedicels 8-16 mm, the pistillate fls and frs on short pedicels 3-5 mm; sep entire; fr orange-red (yellow), 8 mm; nutlets smooth on the back. Swamps and wet woods; Me. to N.Y. and S.C., chiefly e. of the mts. June.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
