A shrub or small tree found on a variety of sites, with one or more species found in all states of the U.S. and provinces of Canada. Leaves are alternate, simple, deciduous, finely serrate to entirewith the upper surface a dull, dark green. Twigs are slender, red-brown to gray with a faint bitter-almond taste. Buds are relatively long, conical, and shrp-pointed with relatively few imbricate scales. Fruit is an edible, dark purple berry-like pome appearing in a raceme that ripens in the fall. Bark is thin, smooth, gray, streaked longitudinally with darker lines which may become slightly furrowed with scaly ridges.