Size: shrub, 15-25' average height at maturity (10- 20' spread)
Buds: small, imbricate, rounded, globose, 4-6 scales, pointed at right angles to twig
Leaves: deciduous, often whorled, may be opposite, 3-6" long, 1.5-3" wide, simple, elliptic or ovate, acuminate tips, serrate margins, dark green, sometimes slightly yellow or reddish purple in fall
Twigs: brown, firm bark, glabrous
Flowers: monoecious, white changing to purple-pink, bloom mid-July into September, in pyramidal panicles up to 8" long, very showy
Fruit: capsule
Bark: gray-brown with ridges and furrows, often pealing
