It has a slender oval trunk and smooth gray to reddish-brown bark with horizontal lenticels.

The leaves are 2–8 centimetres (3⁄4–3+1⁄8 inches) long, thin, egg-shaped,[3] and yellowish-green with unevenly sized teeth on either side.

The flowers are small, 10–15 millimetres (3⁄8–5⁄8 in) diameter, with five white petals[3] and numerous hairlike stamens; they are almond-scented, produced in clusters in spring, and pollinated by insects.

The fruit is a juicy red or purple cherry 7–14 mm (1⁄4–1⁄2 in) diameter, which, as the plant's English name suggests, are bitter.

[7] Native tribes, most notably Kwakwaka'wakw, used parts of the plant for medicinal purposes, such as poultices and bark infusions.