A small to medium-sized, tolerant bottomland tree throughout the southeastern U.S. Wood is very hard and durable. Leaves are deciduous, up to 6" long, simple, ovate-elliptical, entire, leathery, and lustrous, with subarcuate venation. Twigs are slender and have ovate buds with 2 imbricate scales.Fruit is an orange-colored, subglobose berry approximately 1-1/2" in diameter that is edible after the first frost (very bitter earlier). Bark is thick, gray to black, and broken up into small blocks (alligator hide pattern). Cut bark has a "zebra pattern".