General: Evergreen shrub from a rhizome; stems branched, more or less procumbent, widely stoloniferous, 15-100 cm tall; bark and wood yellowish.
Leaves: Evergreen, hollylike, alternate, pinnate; leaflets 3-7, pinnately nerved, less than twice as long as broad, with 15-43 inconspicuous spiny teeth.
Flowers: Inflorescence of clustered racemes 3-8 cm long; flowers yellow, the segments in 6's.
Fruits: Clustered berries 8-14 mm in diameter, blue, glaucous, with a few large seeds, edible.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
1. Leaflets usually 9-19, palmately nerved.....................................M. nervosa
1. Leaflets usually 3-11, pinnately nerved
2. Leaves more than twice as long as broad, mostly with 12-29 prominent spiny teeth; leaflets 5-11; plants 0.5-4.5 m tall.......................M. aquifolium
2. Leaves less than twice as long as broad, with 15-43 inconspicuous, spiny teeth; leaflets 3-7; plant 0.1--.6 m tall.........................M. repens
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