Shrub or small tree mostly 1-4 m, the zigzag twigs sometimes villous when young; thorns short; lvs cuneate-spatulate to rhombic-elliptic, obtuse or pointed at the tip, narrowed below to the short, glandular petiole, 1.5-3 נ1-2.5 cm, or the vegetative ones larger, to 5 נ4 cm, glandular or glandular-serrate on the margins, lobeless or shallowly 3-lobed above, yellow-green, firm, the veins distinctly impressed above; fls 1.6-1.8 cm wide, in slightly villous, 2-4-fld cymes; sep lanceolate, finely glandular-serrate; fr yellow to reddish, 0.9-1.3 cm thick, with a prominent cal, thick dry flesh, and 3-5 nutlets. Often in sandy or gravelly soil; s. Va. (at least reputedly) to Fla. and Miss. (C. flava, misapplied)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.