A deciduous shrub, 3 to 5 ft high, with erect stems and long, graceful, slender, horizontal branches, all the parts devoid of down. Leaves alternate, oval, or slightly obovate, 3⁄4 to 2 in. long, 1⁄3 to 1 in. wide, mostly blunt or rounded at the apex, margin minutely undulated; dull green above, pale, rather glaucous beneath; stalk 1⁄8 in. long. Plants unisexual; flowers greenish yellow, very small (1⁄10 in. across), produced during August and September in the leaf-axils of the current year’s growth. The male flowers are densely packed a dozen or more together, opening successively; each flower on a stalk 1⁄10 in. long; sepals and stamens five. The longer-stalked female flowers are borne singly in the leaf-axils. The seed-vessel, borne on a stalk 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long, is about the size of a peppercorn, three-celled, the calyx adherent at the base.
Native of N.E. Asia, including China, Manchuria, and Siberia; introduced from the last named in 1783. It flowers very freely, but has little to recommend it except its graceful habit.