General:
Deciduous, low, erect shrub, 0.3-1 m tall, forming extensive colonies from rhizomes or by layering; stems dark grey, with shredding bark; twigs reddish-brown, short-hairy.

Leaves:
Opposite, on stalks 3-10 mm long, elliptic or egg-shaped, mostly 2.5-8 cm long and 1.5-5 cm wide, entire or with a few blunt, irregular teeth; leaves often larger and more lobed on sterile shoots; glabrous above, hairy beneath at least along veins; similar to those of S. albus, but thicker and more leathery, and often pointed at the tip.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of short, dense cluster of few to several flowers, stalked flowers at ends of twigs and in upper leaf axils; corollas bell-shaped, pale pink, tubular below, flaring above to 5 prominent, spreading lobes that equal or are a little longer than the tubes; styles 3-8 mm long, long-hairy near the middle or sometimes glabrous, equalling or slightly exceeding the corollas; anthers 1.5-2 mm long, shorter than the filaments.

Fruits:
Berrylike drupes, clusters, white, nearly globose, 6-9 mm long; nutlets 2, each enclosing 1 seed.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

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

Flower Colour:
White

Blooming Period:
Late Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: White
Present from Summer to Fall

Source:  The USDA