Lustrous green leaves hang on late into fall. The leaves are alternate, odd-pinnate, and composed of sessile, narrow, serrate leaflets. The five petals of each flower are white with a blotch at the base that changes from yellow to red. To a degree, the flowers resemble popped popcorn, and another common name for this plant is the popcorn shrub. When in bloom, the plants are quite striking.
Seeds are pea-sized and dark brown.
In the winter plants can be a bit coarse in appearance. This plant can be left as a shrub or pruned into multi-stemmed small trees. Plants at our Station are moderate in annual growth and have shown no signs of serious pest or disease problems. Yellowhorn can be difficult to transplant, and the plants do need good drainage. Ames 26017 was obtained as bare-root seedlings from Lawyer Nursery, Inc. in spring 2000 and plants were grown on for another growing season.