Dirca palustris, or eastern leatherwood, is a shrub that grows to a maximum height of about three meters.

It is most likely to be encountered in the northern part of its range, and is a dominant shrub in some hardwood forests of the upper Great Lakes Region.

The species name, "palustris", means "of the swamps," although it also occurs in well-drained areas provided that the soils are moisture-retentive.

Its closest relative, the western leatherwood, lives across the continent in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Phytogeography of eastern leatherwood (Dirca palustris L.) resolved by chloroplast sequencing and micro satellite genotyping