Plants clump- or crown-forming; twigs ± terete, pilose. Leaf blades pale green abaxially, lustrous dark green adaxially, narrowly ovate, 21-29 × 8-12 mm, coriaceous, margins sharply serrate, surfaces glandular abaxially. Flowers: corolla pinkish, 3-5 mm; filaments hairy. Berries black or blue, 6-8 mm diam. 2n = 24.

Flowering early spring-mid summer. Edges of coniferous forests, also epiphytic on trunks of redwoods; 0-30 m; B.C.; Calif., Oreg., Wash.