FNPS Plant Database

Clethra alnifolia

sweet pepperbush

PHOTOS COMING SOON!

Nomenclature

Common Name:

sweet pepperbush

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Clethra alnifolia

Family:

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:

Showy Flowers, Aroma/Showy Fruitsagrance

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Hedges, back borders. Blooms in summer.

Considerations:

Availability:

Quality Nurseries, Native Nurseries

Propagation:

Seed, division or softwood cuttings

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun, Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Coming Soon!

Stays wet ---to--- Not wet but not extremely dry

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

High. Can tolerate significant and ongoing amounts of salt.

Soil or Other Substrate:

Soil pH:

acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.



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Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators, Butterflies, Hummingbirds, Birds, Mammals

Attracts butterflies and bees which have evolved to take advantage of narrow, tubular flowers. 

Attracts hummingbirds.





Birds and other small wildlife consume the seed ( https://wildflower.org ) 

Native Habitats:

Moist-wet areas, acid soils. Wet flatwoods, savannas, swamps, stream banks, bogs, other wet areas.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

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.  

Citations:

Accessed 2019 .  https://wildflower.org.



Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell.  1999.  Native Florida Plants.  Gulf Publishing Company.  Houston, TX.



Nelson, Gil.  2003.  Florida's Best Landscape Plants. Association of Florida Native Nurseries.



North Carolina Extention Service.  Accessed 2021.  Plant toolbox.   https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/. (salt tolerance, wildlife)



Osorio, Rufino. 2001. A gardener's guide to Florida's native Plants.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.



University of Tennessee Extension Service.  Desired Ph Range and salt tolerance of common nursery plants.    https://extension.tennessee.edu/mtnpi/Documents/handouts/Fertility/Desired-pH-Range-List.pdf   accessed 2021.



Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants ( http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu /).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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