LEAVES: Opposite, simple, 3″-5″ long; clustered toward tips of twigs; margins smooth or wavy; veins prominent and curved like a bow. Foliage bright red in autumn.
TWIGS: Red tinged with green, often with a bluish white powdery coating; marked with rings; tips curve upward. End leaf bud covered by 2 reddish scales; side leaf buds very small; flower buds conspicuous, silvery, button-shaped, at ends of twigs.
FRUIT: An egg-shaped drupe, 1/2″-3/5″ long; coat red; flesh yellowish; stone grooved, 2-celled; usually in clusters of 2-5; persist after the leaves fall. Flowers greenish white or yellowish, small, in flat-topped clusters; four showy white bracts underneath; open before the leaves.
GENERAL: Bark red-brown to reddish gray, broken by fissures into small blocks, like alligator hide. A small native tree with low spreading crown, especially valued for ornamental planting. Wood used primarily for textile weaving shuttles. Horticultural varieties with red or pink bracts have been developed.
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