Vaccinium arboreum is a shrub (rarely a small tree) growing to 3-5 metres (sometimes up to 9 metres) tall. The leaves are evergreen in the south of the range, but deciduous farther north where winters are colder. They are oval-elliptic with an acute apex, 3-7 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, with a smooth or very finely toothed margin. The flowers are white, bell-shaped, 3-4 mm in diameter, with a five-lobed corolla, produced in racemes up to 5 cm long. The fruit is a round dry berry about 6 mm diameter, green at first, black when ripe, edible but bitter and tough.