Habitat

• native to the eastern United States
• zone 4

Habit and Form

• a deciduous tree
• rounded habit
• multistemmed
• 6' to 10' tall
• width is similar to height
• coarse texture
• fast growth rate

Summer Foliage

• opposite leaf arrangement
• simple, deciduous leaves
• elliptic leaf shape
• 2" to 4" long by up to 2" wide
• rounded leaf base
• wavy leaf margins
• pubescent petioles and veins
• medium green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

• no fall color
• leaves change from green to brown

Flowers

• creamy, white flowers
• flowering occurs in late May and early June
• flowers borne in cymes, 1.5" across to 2.5"

Fruit

• blue drupe
• 0.25" across
• favorite or birds
• showy

Bark

• brown to maroon bark color
• fissures
• slender stems with pubescence

Culture

• readily transplanted
• prefers moist, fertile soil
• full sun to partial shade

Landscape Use

• wet sites
• naturalized areas
• massing or grouping
• border
• difficult sites

Liabilities

• scale
• can look unkempt

ID Features

• a deciduous shrub
• flower buds are terminal, hairy and valvate
• vegetative buds are pubescent, appressed and valvate
• flat clusters of small white flowers in late spring
• smooth reddish-brown bark on young branches

Propagation

• by seed
• by cuttings

Cultivars/Varieties

• none are commonly available