Size: groundcover, shrub, 2-6' average height at maturity, 6-10' spread
Buds: covered by leaf scar, small, yellow, pubescent
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, terminal leaflet 1.5-3" long, laterals .75-1.5", compound, trifoliate, tips acute or acuminate, coarsely toothed, green or blue-green, shiny on top, orange, red, red-purple in fall
Twigs: slender, pubescent, clusters of small catkins at apex in winter, fragrant when bruised, raised leaf scars, circular
Flowers: yellowish, male catkins about 1" long, females in short panicles, individual scales of catkins are red-brown with conspicuous marginal fringe of white hairs, bloom mid-March to April
Fruit: fuzzy red drupe, about .25"
