Found in moist wayside thickets, and on the borders of small streams; the inconspicuous flowers opening in June and July, and the bright berries ripening in October.

This shrub is from 3 to 5 or 8 feet high, and has a round, tough stem, covered with a smooth dark gray bark.

The small oval leaf, tapering at both ends, is thin, and smooth above, but slightly woolly on the ribs beneath; the color is a strong, full green.

The small, inconspicuous flower has 4, 5, 6, and sometimes 7 or 8, small rounded divisions, and an equal number of tiny stamens; these pale, greenish flowers are clustered close to the stem, in the angles of the leaves, on the ends of the branches.

The bright red berries, about the size of a small pea, glow under the green leaves in early October, and later, among the gray twiggery they are like coals of fire.