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Clethra alnifolia
Also called Coastal Sweet Pepperbush, Summersweet, Sweet Pepperbush, Summersweet Clethra, Pink Spire
Coastal sweetpepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) is a deciduous shrub native to eastern North America, growing in wet woods, bogs and stream banks. It is grown for its fragrant white summer flower spikes and is easiest in moist, acidic soil.
Clethra alnifolia, the coastal sweetpepperbush or summer sweet, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Clethra of the family Clethraceae, native to eastern North America from southern Nova Scotia and Maine south to northern Florida, and west to eastern Texas. It is a deciduous shrub which grows in wetlands, bogs and woodland streams.
C. alnifolia is typically used as a shrub for natural gardens, or is placed alongside a stream or pond to delay erosion. It does not leaf out until very late in the season, limiting its landscaping use. Several cultivars have been selected for garden use, including 'September Beauty'. Both 'Ruby Spice', with strongly pink flowers, and the dwarf 'Hummingbird' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).
It grows in wet forests, pine flatwoods, wetlands, bogs and can be seen alongside woodland streams. It has moderate salt tolerance and can be found inland in coastal areas. It prefers a neutral to acidic soil. The Nova Scotian disjunct population is small and endangered, and C. alnifolia is listed as a threatened species under the Canadian Species at Risk Act.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Clethra alnifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
