A large shrub or small tree (2-8 m tall) that loses Its leaves in autumn. Its once-compound leaves consist of 4-7 pairs of leaflets (4-10 cm long and 1.5-3 cm wide) and a single terminal leaflet. These leaves are initially green, but they turn bright red, scarlet or crimson before they are shed in autumn. Its whitish to yellowish-green flowers (5-6 mm across) borne in large clusters near the tips of the branches. Its papery fruit (5-11 mm across) turn pale brown to black in colour as they ripen. These rounded fruit each contain a single hard, dark brown seed (3-5 mm across).