- shrub 4-7 feet tall at maturity
- gangly appearance
- leaves opposite, <1 inch long and 1/4 inch wide, with no hairs and no teeth
- flowers tiny, white, with 5 lobes
- twigs somewhat 4-angled
- fruit a red-orange berry 1/4 inch in diameter
- common in Starr and western Hidalgo counties but rare elsewhere
