PLANT: Shrubs to small trees, 2-5 m tall. STEMS: erect, gray-brown, slender, young stems pubescent becoming glabrous, often smooth and lustrous. LEAVES: deciduous, alternate to nearly opposite; petioles 3-4 mm long; blades oblong, lanceolate or elliptic; 2-5 (5.8) cm long, 1.0-1.6 cm wide, serrulate to crenulate, yellowish-brown and pubescent below; apex obtuse. INFLORESCENCE: of 1-5 flowers. FLOWERS: with pedicels 2-5 mm long; petals 4, greenish-yellow, ca. 2 mm long. FRUITS: 4-6 mm long, black at maturity. NOTES: Mountain canyons, open hillsides and stream banks: Apache, Cochise, Coconino cos.; 1,520-2,300 m (5,000-7,500 ft); Apr-Jun; CO, TX, NM; Mex. REFERENCES: Kyle Christie, Michael Currie, Laura Smith Davis, Mar-Elise Hill, Suzanne Neal, and Tina Ayers, 2006 Vascular Plants of Arizona: Rhamnaceae. CANOTIA 2(1): 23-46.