General: Upright, spreading shrub; stems 0.5-3 m tall, young stems minutely hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, evergreen, leathery, in "horizontal" rows on stems, egg- to narrowly egg-shaped, 2-5 cm long, tips pointed, bright glossy green on the upper surfaces, paler beneath, margins thickened and sharply toothed.
Flowers: In 3- to 10-flowered axillary clusters; corollas bright pinkish, narrowly bell-shaped, about 7.5 mm long, the lobes short, spreading, and triangular; calyx lobes red, triangular; filaments densely hairy; anthers with long, straight tubes above the pollen sacs, not awned.
Fruits: Berries, globe-shaped, 4-7 mm wide, deep purplish-black with bloom, or blackish and shining; sweet and edible, but musky flavour.
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)
A shade-intolerant, submontane to montane, Pacific North American evergreen shrub. Occurs in hypermaritime to maritime summer-wet cool mesothermal climates on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-poor soils; its occurrence decreases with increasing elevation and increases with increasing precipitation.
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