The plant is an evergreen shrub or small tree with a suckering habit. Chokecherry is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to tall, rarely to . "R. ponticum" is a dense, suckering shrub or small tree growing to tall, rarely . Trees occur singly or, because of suckering, in dense clumps. It is a dense, suckering shrub growing to 3 m tall, rarely 5 m. It is a large surculose (suckering) shrub that can be grown as a small tree. Because of this suckering, the species often forms thickets that exclude all other species. Similarly, further west in the Corangamite region, it is either a tree or suckering shrub. Its growth form spans from suckering and forming colonies to clumped. Some populations of "Alectryon oleifolius" reproduce by suckering, forming small stands of clonal plants. Theophrastus also detailed the practice of using suckering and plant cuttings for new vineyard plantings. Belah can reproduce by suckering from its root system, and clonal stands have been recorded. The plant propagates readily by root suckering, allowing it to produce indefinitely. Once established, these trees spread by suckering, thus creating a new aspen groves. In South Africa, it is regarded as a weed because of its suckering habit.