Size: shrub, 3-5' average height and spread at maturity
Buds: imbricate, 4-6 scales, greenish brown, glabrous, much larger than those of H. paniculata
Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 2-8" long, 2-6" wide, simple, ovate to elliptic, tips acuminate, margins serrate, dark green changes to brown or sometimes yellow in fall
Twigs: grayish, firm bark, large white pith on new growth
Flowers: monoecious, dull white, in terminal flat-topped clusters up to 6", bloom early to mid June
Fruit: capsule
Bark: exfoliating, gray-tan-brown, pith brown on older growth
