A deciduous shrub up to 10 ft high, more in diameter, very bushy; branchlets hollow; young shoots downy. Leaves oval or obovate, rounded or broadly tapered at the base, mostly with a short abrupt apex, 11⁄4 to 21⁄2 in. long, half or more than half as wide, downy on both surfaces; stalk 1⁄4 in. long, downy. Flowers not scented, yellowish white, tinged sometimes with red, produced in pairs on downy stalks up to 5⁄8 in. long. Corolla very downy, conspicuously two-lipped, 5⁄8 in. across, the tube short and bellied; ovary glandular. Fruits red, often showy in August.
Native of Europe, Asia Minor, and W. Siberia, found wild in parts of S.E. England, where it may be a true native.
f. lutea (Veillard) Rehd. – Fruits yellow. There are numerous other varieties varying in the degree of pubescence on the plant, etc., which need not be described further.
cv. ‘Clavey’s Dwarf’. – Of dense, low habit. Raised in the USA.