Shrub or small tree to 8 m; lvs evergreen coriaceous, oval to oblong or elliptic, 2–4 cm, obtuse at both ends, glabrous, finely crenate, the apex of each tooth closely appressed to the sinus; fls mostly 4-merous, the staminate in short-peduncled cymes, the pistillate cymes subsessile; fr red, 5 mm; nutlets grooved on the back; 2n=40. Swamps and wet woods on the coastal plain; se. Va. to Fla., Ark., and Tex. May.
