Flower Notes:
Yellow (Greenish yellow flowers with 6 large 3" tepals of upper flower, and 3 lower 1" tepals horizontally borne below larger tepals; late May to early June)
Foliage Notes:
Green (The large, dark green leaves provide a moderately coarse texture; summer); Bronze (Fall color is typically a poor greenish brown, but sometimes a yellowish-bronze)
Fruit Notes:
Red (2-3" fruit, begins green and turns a pinkish-red; is a bumpy irregular aggregate of follicles that split open to reveal bright orange-red arils)
Soil Notes:
Prefers loamy, moist, well-drained soils that are slightly acidic
Diagnostic Characteristics:
Leaves - alternate, simple, large (4-10"), elliptic to oblong-ovate and entire with undulation. Dark green above, light green below. Leaf apex is acuminate, base is cordate to rounded. Stipules at the petiole base early in season encircle the stem, resulting in a scar surrounding stem. Terminal buds are greenish gray, large, blunt, ovate, often slightly curved and about 1" long; covered with a solitary pubescent scale that wraps around the entire bud. Smaller lateral buds are 1/4 - 1/2" long, appressed and also pubescent. Young stems are greenish gray then turn reddish-brown as they mature with prominent circular bud-scale scars encircling the stem at each node. Stems are stout and glabrous, and fragrant when crushed. Stems have slightly elongated gray lenticels.