Tree to 12 m, or sometimes an arborescent shrub; twigs glabrous, unarmed or with scattered stout thorns 1-2.5 cm; lvs oblong-obovate to elliptic, often broadly so, mostly 2-4 נ1.5-3 cm and with 2-4 pairs of small, shallow, often irregular lateral lobes, or larger and more deeply cleft on vegetative shoots, firm, dark green and glossy above, essentially glabrous; fls 1-1.3 cm wide, in mostly 5-12-fld glabrous compound cymes; fr 0.8-1 cm thick, dark wine-color to black when fully ripe, succulent; nutlets 3-5, with a large pit on the inner surface. Local near Lake Superior and Lake Huron in ne. Minn., n. Mich., and Ont.; widespread in the w. cordillera.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
