A low, spreading, deciduous shrub, rarely more than 2 ft high; young shoots minutely downy, lateral branchlets often ending in a spine. Leaves glabrous or nearly so, narrowly oval, ovate or obovate, tapered at the base, often bluntish at the apex, finely toothed, 1⁄2 to 1 in. long, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. wide; veins two to four each side the midrib, converging towards the apex; stalk 1⁄6 in. or less long. Flowers very small, greenish yellow. Fruits black, top-shaped, three-seeded.
Native of the mountains of Central and S.E. Europe; in cultivation 1752. A curious dwarf or stunted shrub inhabiting rocky places, belonging to the same group as R. tinctoria and R. infectoria, but distinguished by its dwarf habit and smaller, glabrous leaves.