Open, deciduous shrub to about 3 m tall. New growth downy at first. Leaves broadly ovate, long-pointed with large, pointed teeth, dark green above, pale below, occasionally with hairs on the veins and in the vein axils, occasionally with small warts (subsp. discolor). Flower clusters more or less flat, to 15 cm wide. Sterile flowers 1-8 or absent, creamy white, to 2 cm wide. Fertile flowers numerous, white; summer. Ovary inferior. Fruit a capsule with 8-10 ribs.

E USA

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Hydrangeaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.