Shrubs to small trees, 0.8–2.5 m, unarmed. Branchlets gray-brown, 2 cm, puberulent, glabrescent. Bud-scales dark red to reddish-brown, coriaceous, dull. Leaves deciduous, alternate to subopposite; petiole 3–4 mm; blade usually yellowish-brown, rarely green, abaxially, green adaxially, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 1.5–5 (–5.5) cm, herbaceous, base cuneate to rounded or truncate, margins serrulate to crenulate, apex obtuse, both surfaces minutely hirtellous, often more densely so abaxially; secondary-veins 5–8 (–11) pairs, all diverging at nearly same angle. Inflorescences fascicles or flowers solitary. Pedicels 1–4 mm. Sepals 4. Petals 4. Drupes black, globose or slightly elongate, 4–6 (–8) mm; stones 2.

Phenology: Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat: Canyons, stream banks, open hillsides, ledges, ridges, among boulders, gravelly limestone hills, roadsides, mesic forests, woodlands.
Elevation: 1500–2600 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Ariz., N.Mex., Tex., Mexico, Central America (Guatemala)

Discussion

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"thin" is not a number.