Shrubs, trees, vines or perennial herbs with opposite leaves and mostly cymose flowers; calyx 3—5-toothed, the corolla 5-lobed or sometimes 2-lipped; stamens 5-inserted on the tube of the corolla and alternate with the lobes; fruit a berry, drupe or capsule.

A shrub 2—12 feet high, the twigs and leaves commonly hairy; stems woody, the younger with reddish-brown pith. Leaves pinnate with 3—7 ovate-lanceolate or oval, acuminate leaflets 2—5 inches long, sharply serrate. Flowers numerous, less than ¼ of an inch broad, white, in a close oblong head 3—4 inches high, longer than broad; berries in a compact head, bright scarlet, ¼ of an inch in diameter.

Rocky places and thickets throughout the region though most abundant in the Selkirks; flowering in June, the bright red berries ripe in late summer.

A shrub 2—12 feet high, smooth or the young leaves slightly hairy. Leaves pinnate with 3—7 or rarely 9 ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate leaflets, 2—5 inches long, sharply serrate. Flowers small white in a close compound cyme 3—4 inches high and as broad; berries ¼ of an inch broad, black and shining in a close head.

Rocky places and thickets in the Selkirks; growing with the other species and difficult to distinguish from it except by the colour of the berries.

A straggling bush 2—6 feet high with twigs and petioles smooth or nearly so. Leaves broadly oval, obovate or broader than long; 5-ribbed, mostly with 3 rather shallow lobes above the middle, coarsely and unequally dentate, smooth above, more or less hairy on the veins beneath, 1½—3 inches broad. Flowers small, pure white or pinkish, ¼ of an inch broad in compact axillary heads an inch or so broad; drupe globose, bright red, acid, about half an inch long.

A most attractive shrub in thickets and woods at the lower altitudes throughout the Rockies; flowering in May and early June; the acid fruit is frequently used for preserving.

Branches slender, woody, slightly hairy, trailing, 6—24 inches long. Leaves evergreen, opposite, obovate or orbicular, obscurely crenate, thick, ¼—¾ of an inch wide, sometimes wider than long. Flowers nodding in pairs, rarely in 4’s, on slender pedicels ¼—¾ of an inch long, very fragrant; corolla tubular-campanulate with 5 equal lobes, pink or nearly white, deep pink within.

In moist cool woods, frequent throughout the region, especially in the Rockies; flowering in late June and early July.

An erect shrub, 1—4 feet high, smooth or nearly so with slender branches. Leaves oval, obtuse at each end, 1—2 inches long, entire, undulate or sometimes dentate. Flowers pale pink or white, few, in axillary clusters; corolla campanulate, ¼ of an inch long, equally 5-lobed, slightly inflated at the base and bearded within; berries snow-white, nearly ½ an inch in diameter.

On rocky banks and along streams at the lower altitudes throughout the Rockies; flowering during July.

A low, spreading, diffusely branched shrub 6—9 inches high. Leaves broadly oval or orbicular, entire, softly hairy, especially along the veins beneath. Flowers about ¼ of an inch long, solitary in the upper axils, and 2 or 3 in the terminal spike; corolla campanulate, 5-lobed, bearded within; berry globose, white, ¼ of an inch in diameter.

In rocky places and on wooded slopes throughout the Rockies; flowering in July.

Smooth, more or less shrubby or twining. Leaves smooth above, glaucous and hairy at least on the veins beneath, 1½—2 inches long, papery on the margins, usually only the upper pair connate-perfoliate. Flowers in a short terminal interrupted spike, corolla 1 inch long or less, yellow changing to reddish, slightly hairy without, long-hairy within, the tube rather strongly inflated at the base, the 2-lipped limb shorter than the tube, stamens and style exserted.

In rocky places and along river banks throughout the Rockies; flowering during July.

Shrubby, 3—6 feet high with grey bark. Leaves light green, glaucous and hairy beneath, fringed with hairs on the margins, elliptic-ovate or broadly ovate, obtuse, rounded or cordate at the base, rounded at the apex, 1—2½ inches long, ½—1½ inches wide. Flowers in pairs from the axils of the leaves; peduncles about ½ an inch long; corolla light yellow, about ¾ of an inch long, funnel-form, and spurred at the base on the inner side; berry bright red, ¼ of an inch in diameter.

In moist woods throughout the region at the lower altitudes; flowering in May and early June.

A nearly smooth shrub 3—10 feet high. Leaves short-petioled, ovate, oval or obovate, 2—6 inches long, acute or acuminate at the apex, narrowed or rounded at the base, more or less hairy at least when young. Flowers greenish-yellow, 2 or 3 on axillary peduncles, 1—2 inches long, bracts foliaceous, ovate or oval, often cordate, bractlets larger, greenish-yellow, at length turning rich maroon and surrounding the fruit; corolla hairy, funnel-form; the limb nearly equally 5-lobed; stamens and styles slightly exserted; berries separate, globose or oval, nearly black, about ⅓ of an inch in diameter.

In rich moist woods and thickets at the lower altitudes throughout the region, inconspicuous when in flower in late June and early July, but especially showy when in fruit, the blue-black berries subtended by the showy maroon bracts, making it a most striking shrub during summer and early autumn.