General:
Deciduous, erect shrub, occasionally a small tree, 1-5 (sometimes to 10) m tall, the trunk diameter to 25 cm, often several-stemmed from basal suckers; twigs soft, pithy, glaucous; old bark finely fissured.
Leaves:
Opposite, stalked, large, compound, pinnately divided into 5-9 leaflets, which are lanceolate to narrowly egg-shaped, 5-15 cm long and 2-6 cm wide, often asymmetric at the base, abruptly sharp-pointed at the tip, saw-toothed on the margins, and usually glabrous.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of numerous, small flowers in a flat-topped, 4-20 cm wide, umble-like cluster with 4-5 spokes; corollas wheel-shaped, white or cream; petals fused at base into short, flat tubes that spread (4-7 mm across) to 5 lobes that are longer than the tubes.
Fruits:
Berrylike, globose, 4-6 mm across, powder blue (bluish-black with a heavy, waxy bloom), with 3-5 wrinkled stones, each enclosing a seed.
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia