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