Summersweet Clethra

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