This is a shrub growing to heights between one and two meters. It has an erect form with a large, spherical burl. Leaves are bright green, shiny, and mostly hairless. They are 2 to 4 centimeters long with smooth edges. The shrub blooms in dense inflorescences of urn-shaped manzanita flowers. The fruit is a rounded red drupe up to 14 millimeters wide.