A small shrub or woody herbaceous plant that prefers damp and shady habitats. Its alternately arranged leaves (3-13 cm long) are mostly hairless with entire margins and pointed tips. Its whitish flowers are arranged in elongated clusters (5-15 cm long) in the forks of the upper leaves. These flowers have four small 'petals' (i.e. perianth segments) that turn from white or pinkish to greenish as they mature. Its fruit small rounded berries (3-4 mm across) turn from green to bright glossy red as they mature.