Clethra alnifolia
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Sweet Pepperbush
Clethraceae
Plant Specifics
| Form: | Shrub | |
| Size: | 3-10 ft tall by 2-5 ft wide | |
| Life Span: | Long-lived perennial | |
| Flower Color: | White | |
| Fruit Color: | Brown | |
| Phenology: | Deciduous. Blooms in spring. Moderately long-lived (Nelson 2003). | |
| Noted for: | Aroma, fragrance, Showy flowers |
Landscaping
| Recommended Uses: | Hedges, back borders. Blooms in summer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Propagation: | Seed, division or softwood cuttings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Availability: | Native nurseries, Quality nurseries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Light: | Full Sun, Part Shade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: |
always floodedextremely dry |
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| (Stays Wet ----- to ----- Not wet but not extremely dry) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: | Stays Wet ----- to ----- Not wet but not extremely dry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Water Flooding Tolerance: | Tolerant of occasional/brief inundation such as can occur in storm surges. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Spray/ Salty Soil Tolerance: | High. Can tolerate significant and ongoing amounts of salty wind and salt spray without injury. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil or other substrate: | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil pH: | Acidic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ecology
| Wildlife: |
Attracts hummingbirds. Birds and other small wildlife consume the seed (https://wildflower.org) | |
| Insects: | Attracts butterflies and bees which have evolved to take advantage of narrow, tubular flowers. | |
| Native Habitats: | Moist-wet areas, acid soils. Wet flatwoods, savannas, swamps, stream banks, bogs, other wet areas. |
Distribution and Planting Zones
Natural Range in Florida
USDA Zones
Suitable to grow in:
8A 8B 9A 9B
USDA zones are based on minimum winter temperatures
Comments
| General Comments: | The herbarium specimen from Polk County almost certainly has a wrong location. Lithia is in Hillsborough County and the most likely translation of a wrongly written latitude and longitude is also in Hillsborough County -- but the exact location would have been agricultural in 1962. |