Sweet Pepper Bush

Sweet Pepper Bush (Clethra) - Shrubs and small trees of the Heath order, the hardy species natives of North America. The Alder-leaved Clethra (C. alnifolia) in the wet copses of Virginia reaches a height of 10 feet or more. With us it grows from 3 to 5 feet, makes a dense bush, bearing in summer white, sweet-scented flowers in feathery spikes. C. acuminata has more pointed leaves, and it also has spikes of white scented flowers; it is quite a small tree in the woods of the Alleghanies. Both are valuable shrubs for moist peaty places.

Related Flowers

Clethra Arborea

Clethra Arborea - the handsome Lily-of-the-Valley tree. It bears panicles of white, bell-shaped flowers in the summer, at which time it is quite a feature at Tresco. It thrives out of doors in the south, and may be worth trying in the warmer parts of S. Ireland, but usually in England is a shrub for the greenhouse. Madeira.

Clethra Canescens

Clethra Canescens - An erect deciduous bush, 4 feet or so high, native of China and Japan, whence it was introduced about 1870. The leaves are greyish, the white, fragrant flowers borne in terminal inflorescences in August. It is somewhat tender when young, but stands better after the first few years.

Clethra Tomentosa

Clethra Tomentosa - Closely allied to C. alnifolia, and from the same region. The flowers, in large terminal and axillary panicles, are white and fragrant, and at their best in September.