A stout, tall hairless plant, much branched and sometimes reaching 1.5 metres in height. Leaves oval, pointed, short stalked and untoothed. Flowers brownish, purplish or greenish nodding bells, 20 to 30 mm long, solitary at the axils of the upper leaves. Fruit a succulent, globose, shiny berry, black when ripe and surrounded by a persistent starry calyx.

Damp or shaded habitats, waste areas and rocky places.

June to August.

Perennial.

Widespread but quite scarce in Britain, especially north of the Tyne.

Uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 10 of the 617 tetrads.