A small shrub (tiny, even, by shrub standards) with clusters of small yellow flowers in spring, light blue berries, and holly-like, green leaves. The leaves are a little leathery, somewhat egg-shaped with several very pointy tips, and stay on the plant for the most part through winter (though they may take on a reddish tinge, and when individual leaves fall off they turn bright red/orange). The berries are slightly oblong, have a powdery coating that can easily be wiped off, and are full of vivid, deep maroon-colored liquid when ripe. These are technically edible, but have an intense sour taste. The stems are often reddish or purplish. Common in patches of exposed dirt on hillsides and rocky foothills/open pine forest, as well as some montane forest.