A deciduous shrub 8 to 10 ft high, of rounded elegant habit, the outer branches pendulous. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, rounded or tapering at the base, slender pointed, 3⁄4 to 2 in. long, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. wide, bright green and glabrous above except at first, paler and slightly downy beneath, especially on the midrib; stalk 1⁄12 in. or less long, woolly. Flowers pinkish white, produced in May and June in pairs from the lower leaf-axils of the young branchlets, each pair on a slender drooping stalk 1⁄2 to 5⁄8 in. long. Corolla tubular, the tube 1⁄3 in. long, the lobes equal, about one-third as long as the tube. Style quite short and hidden. Berries red, edible; each pair united.
Native of the Himalaya; introduced by Sir Joseph Hooker about 1849. If it flowered more freely it would be an attractive shrub, as it is perfectly hardy and of elegant growth; its flowers are fragrant.
It is allied to L. myrtillus, but differs in its longer, differently shaped leaves and drooping peduncles.