Deciduous shrub (rarely tree)up to 4 m high. Branches are dichotomous. Fresh cut of wood stinks.The bark is gray, lengthwise ridged. Leaf-scars are connected in lines. Leaves are simple. The lamina is unregularly palmate with 3 to 5 lobs. The margin is unregularly dentate. The underside is grayish-green, hairy or bald. The petiole has 2 to 4 disk-shaped glands. The flowers are in flat cymes. Peripheral flowers are bigger, sterile, white or pink. Flowering in May and June. The fruits are red, spherical drupes. They are up to 1 cm tall, foul-smelling, poisonous. They contain 1 stone. Shoots: Shoots are thin, long, smooth, glabrous, brown and slightly shiny. Natural range: Europe, Western Asia including Caucasus, north-western Africa; in our area domestic.