#clethraceae

[faguscarolinensis]

Clethra alnifolia / Coastal Sweet Pepperbush at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Strymon melinus on Clethra alnifolia / Gray Hairstreak on Sweet Pepperbush at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

[dendroica]

Sweet Pepperbush (by me)

[treesseenbyzoe]

Clethra alnifolia - Summersweet

Family: Clethraceae

Size: 4 to 8 feet tall, sometimes as tall as 12 feet; 4 to 6 feet in soread, sometimes as much as 10 feet (Dirr)

Leaves: Simple, alternate, obovate with a finely serrated edge, 2 to 3 1/2 inches long, glabrous (Virginia Tech)

Buds: Terminal bud is much larger than lateral buds, all have loose scale (Virginia Tech)

Habitat: Ridges or ledges, shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, and woodlands (NEWFS)

Hardiness: Occurs in zone 4 to zone 9, or -30 to 30°F (Dirr)

Native Region: Native to North America, from Maine to Florida to costal Texas (Dirr)

Additional Information: Produces white flowers that bloom in a narrow, cylindrical, bottle-brush-like form of upright panicles, approximately 4 to 6 inches long; environment should never be allowed to dry out (Missouri Botanical Garden)