Flowers:
White (Borne in pendulous racemes, 2-4" long, and appearing in mid to late March; short-lived)
Foliage:
Green (Dark green in summer); Multi-Colored (Yellow to apricot-orange to deep red leaves in fall)
Fruit:
Black (Small, edible berry-like fruits appear in June and change from green to red to purplish black; birds love them)
Soil:
Grows best in moist, well-drained acidic soils
Diagnostic Characteristics:
Leaves are alternate, simple, generally obovate, less often ovate, ellliptic or oblong, 1-3" long by 0.5-1.75" wide, acute or acuminate, usually cordate at base and sharply serrated. Pubescence is present on young leaves and the tomentose partly remains through maturity, unlike the completely glabrous A. laevis. Bark is gray and smooth but streaked with longitudinal fissures and very ornamental. Stems are slender, olive green to red-brown, smooth and often covered with gray skin.
