Size: shrub, 8-15' average height and spread at maturity
Buds: numerous, shriveled and ragged, reddish, flattened against twig, with 2 thin loose scales, males conical and conspicuous, females smaller and rounded
Leaves: deciduous, alternate, 1-3" long, .125-25" wide, simple, linear-lanceolate, silver-green in summer, gray-green in fall
Twigs: most have thorn tips, densely scaly, whitish, small brown rounded pith
Flowers: essentially dioecious, yellowish, in axillary racemes, not showy
Fruit: bright orange, round or egg-shaped, .25-.33", appear in fall, persist through winter
Bark: gray
