Summersweet Clethra, Sweet Pepperbush

Clethra alnifolia

Clethraceae

▲▼ flowering plants in summer

▲ flowers

▲▼ leaves and dried fruit

Location on campus:  tucked in corner up by building and glass windows by southeast entrance to Karls Hall

Clethra alnifolia: Summersweet Clethra, Sweet Pepperbush

·         leaves deciduous, alternate, simple, ovate with acuminate tip and serrated margins; dark glossy green above and often very tomentose underneath; leaves 1.5-4" long and about 1/2 wide; leaves often turn a golden yellow in fall

·         stems brown, pubescent with light brown pith

·         flowers white, very fragrant, in terminal racemes in mid summer

·         fruit is a dry capsule

·         grows 4-8' tall and 4-6' wide in upright, oval habit; can sucker from base to form large colony

·         prefers partial shade to full sun, moist, high organic matter, acidic soil

·         slow to medium growth rate