Habitat: Dry, rocky woodlands and barrens, shale barrens, old fields, fencerows, roadsides, and early-successional forests. Common at lower elevations nearly throughout.
Wildlife Value: This plant provides nectar for pollinators. It is a larval host plant for Red-Banded Hairstreak. It is also a host plant for the Luna moth. Butterflies and bees nectar at the flowers. Its fruits are eaten by songbirds, white-tailed deer, opossums, wild turkey, and quail. Its bark is eaten by rabbits. Plant NOVA Natives lists this species as particularly popular with the non-native honeybees
Notes: Glossy foliage, beautiful vivid red in the fall. Large mid-summer pale yellow blooms. Spreads slowly by suckers to form a colony (this can be controlled by weeding or mowing in the spring). Usually (but not always) two plants are needed for the female to produce the gorgeous berries