Growth Form: Small tree to 25 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 5 inches; crown rounded.
Bark: Reddish-brown, broken into irregular plates.
Twigs: Slender, grayish, sometimes with orange dots, smooth; leaf scars opposite, crescent-shaped, with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Red, nearly smooth, long-pointed, up to ¾ inch long.
Leaves: Opposite, simple; blades ovate, pointed at the tip, tapering or rounded at the base, up to 3 inches long, about half as wide, sharply and finely toothed along the edges, green and slightly hairy on the upper surface, yellow-green and minutely black-dotted on the lower surface; leafstalks up to 1½ inches long, sometimes rusty-hairy, winged.
Flowers: Many in broad, round-topped clusters, slightly fragrant, appearing during April and May, each flower small and creamy-white.
Fruit: Fleshy, oval to ellipsoid, blue-black, up to ½ inch long, sweet, containing a single stone.
Wood: Hard, heavy, close-grained, dark orange-brown.
Use: Sometimes planted as an ornamental.
Habitat: Rocky woods; woods along streams.