Fall color can be gold to scarlet, but is often not showy. Thorns are numerous, falcate, and borne on rigid twigs. The points of the thorns point downward. Twigs are reddish-brown when young, becoming gray with age. Flowers are white and borne in May to June.
Fruit is a dull red with thin, dry flesh.
The dense branching attracts nesting birds all year and provides shelter, nesting, and food. This, too, is a pioneer species and found in fence rows and abandoned fields. The tree is open and unattractive with irregular and spreading branches. Thorns are long and rather stout with curved tips. Leaves have three to four pairs of short lobes with doubly serrate, or toothed, margins.