General: Perennial herb from a strong but slender rhizome; stems erect, 30-70 cm tall, few-branched, spreading curly-hairy.
Leaves: Stem leaves alternate, several to many, broadly to narrowly egg-shaped, 3-10 cm long, unstalked, somewhat heart-shaped to rounded and somewhat clasping at the base, often spreading-hairy below, smooth above, the margins fringed with spreading hairs; basal leaves lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence of 1 or 2, stalked flowers drooping from branch tips, the stalks sturdy and hairy; flowers creamy-white, narrowly bell-shaped, of 6 similar, distinct tepals, the tepals 8-15 mm long, lance-oblong, flaring from the middle or lower; stamens 6, equalling or slightly longer than the tepals; pistil 1, 3-chambered; styles smooth.
Fruits: Berries, squat-globe-shaped but somewhat 3-lobed, at first green, becoming orange to red, 7-10 mm long, the surface velvety and distinctly warty-roughened; seeds 6 to 12.
Moist to dry forests, forest edges, thickets and clearings in the steppe and montane zones; common in BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains and S of 56degreeN; E to MB and S to SD, NM, AZ and OR.
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)
