Medium shrub, to several feet tall. Leaves long oval, opposite each other, characteristically drooping. The leaves are glossy green above (left, below), with very 3-D veins and a grayish to browhish fuzz underneath (middle, below). Buds and young twigs with reddish brown fuzz (right). Flowers very small, in dense flat-top clusters, creamy white. Blooms in the spring, although the plants in Wildwood rarely bloom. Fruits brownish berries, in fall.

An elegant exotic shrub, often planted for ornament. Common in Wildwood on the upper parts of the eastern slope. May be an escape or possibly persisting from earlier plantings in the Park.

The long drooping leaves, glossy above, fuzzy below, and the reddish brown fuzzy twigs and buds are distinctive. Once recognized it is not likely to be confused with anything else.