aka Hardhack, Hardhack Steeplebush. A many branched schrub which grow erect to 6 ft. (2 m) tall. The rose-pink flowers are tiny (about .25″ across) but very numerous forming a long terminal cluster. The dense thickets of this schrub made it hard for woodsmen to hack their way through. Common on wet ground, swamps, and lake margins usually to 2,500′ elevation.