A small, sparsely branched shrub, less commonly a small tree. Unlike skumpia, the leaves are odd-pinnate with 4–8 pairs of sessile ovate leaflets, and a winged petiole. The inflorescence is a dense panicle but does not form orange threads. The fruits are small, spherical, red drupes densely covered with reddish-brown glandular hairs; they are sour and used as a spice in food. It blooms in June–July and bears fruit in September–October. It grows in the mountains of Crimea, the Caucasus, and Turkmenistan (see illustration).
The leaves contain about 30% tannins, including up to 15% tannin itself, and are a source for its extraction.