Winter buds are naked, valvate, or imbricate. Leaves are opposite with toothed, entire, or lobed margins. Flowers are small in umbel or panicle-like clusters. Fruits are drupes. Petioles have narrow, not wavy, margins.
Branches are rather rigid.
Winter buds are short, pointed, red, and pubescent. Flowers are white and open in April or May. Fruits are blue-black, bloomy, and mature in September or October. It is an attractive ornamental shrub for landscaping and in bird sanctuaries. Blackhaw spreads readily by root suckers and is adapted to moist, fertile soils.