This hollow-stemmed shrub has tiny, pinkish white, bell-shaped flowers in small terminal or axillary clusters. Leaves 1-2 in (2.5-5 cm) long. Flowers 0.3 in (0.8 cm) long. Fruit is a white, waxy, berrylike drupe, 0.5 in (1.3 cm) wide. Height: 1-4 ft (0.3-1.2 cm).
Rocky banks and roadsides.
Quebec and western Massachusetts south to Pennsylvania and West Virginia; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, and Colorado.
Berries and stems (often used as whistles) are mildly toxic to children. May be fatal to animals.
