Habitat

• native to Connecticut down through Florida and across to Texas
• cold hardy to zone 3

Habit and Form

• a medium-sized deciduous shrub
• rounded crown
• stiff branches
• up to 15' tall
• 8' to 12' wide
• medium texture
• slow growth rate

Summer Foliage

• deciduous simple leaves
• opposite leaf arrangement
• very small serrations along leaf margins
• 1.5" to 3.5" long
• up to 2" wide
• dark green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

• purplish fall color
• variable

Flowers

• white flowers
• individual flowers 0.25" across
• flat-topped clusters are 2" to 4" across
• showy

Fruit

• pink maturing to black
• drupe
• oval shape
• matures in early fall
• edible
• showy

Bark

• glabrous stems
• gray-brown bark color
• apple-like

Culture

• very easy to grow
• full sun to partial shade
• soil adaptable
• easily transplanted

Landscape Use

• screen
• specimen
• mass plantings and groupings
• to attract birds
• for flowering effect

Liabilities

• free from serious problems

ID Features

• opposite leaves
• oval, black fruits in clusters
• upright stiff habit
• flat clusters of small creamy white flowers
• apple-like bark

Propagation

• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

'Early Red' - Offered by a prominent New Jersey nursery, this selection is notable for its fine foliage display. The young leaves are tinged red, and the fall foliage is deep red. Other traits are as per the species.

'Ovazam' (Ovation™) - This is a new selection notable for its upright, columnar habit to 10' tall and perhaps half as wide. The young leaves have a reddish cast and dark blue berries follow the flat-topped flower clusters.