Size: shrub, 4-6' average height and spread at maturity
Buds: large naked terminal covered with brown silky hairs, lateral also pubescent
Leaves: deciduous, opposite, 3-8" long, 2-8" wide, simple, ovate to suborbicular, 3-7 lobes with sublobes and serration, deep green in summer, purple, red, and orange-brown in fall
Twigs: stout, pubescent on new growth, brownish, terminal leaves or petioles often persist, prominent leaf scars form inverted triangles
Flowers: monoecious, white changing to purple-pink and then brown, each 1-1.5", in terminal clusters up to 12", fragrant and fertile
Fruit: capsule
Bark: cinnamon-brown, exfoliates on older wood
