Stems arching, to 2 m, armed with a few slender prickles, densely shaggy with long (3-5 mm), purple, glandular hairs, as also the petioles and infl; lfls 3, densely white- tomentose beneath, the terminal one broadly ovate, abruptly short-acuminate, rounded at base, the lateral similar but much smaller; infl a many-fld cymose panicle; sep glandular-hairy; pet white, narrowly ovate, erect, much shorter than the sep; fr red, 1 cm thick, separating as a unit from the persistent receptacle; 2n=14. Native of e. Asia, well established as an escape from cult. in our range, especially along the Atlantic coast.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.