A deciduous shrub of compact habit, attaining a height of 6 ft in the wild; stems pale yellow when mature. Leaves oblong-elliptic, 1 to 3 in. long, 3⁄4 to 11⁄2 in. wide, net-veined and green on both sides, but slightly glaucous beneath when young. Flowers rather small, in short, dense racemes. Berries oblong to obovoid, purple-red.
A native of Kashmir, where it forms thickets on open mountain-sides, and also of Afghanistan. It bears some resemblance to B. vulgaris but its closest affinity appears to be with such E. Asiatic species as B. dasystachya.