Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Ericales > Clethraceae > Clethra > Clethra alnifolia

Clethra alnifolia (coastal sweetpepperbush; summersweet clethra)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Clethra alnifolia (coastal sweetpepperbush or summersweet), 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 grows in wet forests, pine flatwoods, wetlands, bogs and can be seen alongside woodland streams. It prefers a neutral to acid soil. The Nova Scotia population is small and endangered.
View Wikipedia Record: Clethra alnifolia

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Screening - Summer [2]  Moderate
Screening - Winter [2]  Porous
Bloom Period [2]  Summer
Drought Tolerance [2]  Low
Fire Tolerance [2]  High
Flower Type [3]  Hermaphrodite
Frost Free Days [2]  5 months
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  Low
Fruit/Seed Begin [2]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [2]  Fall
Growth Form [2]  Multiple Stem
Growth Period [2]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [2]  Moderate
Leaf Type [3]  Deciduous
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Pollinators [3]  Bees
Propagation [2]  Bare Root, Container, Seed
Root Depth [2]  16 inches (41 cm)
Scent [3]  The flowers are very aromatic and sweetly scented.
Seed Spread Rate [2]  Slow
Seed Vigor [2]  Low
Shape/Orientation [2]  Erect
Structure [3]  Shrub
Usage [3]  The stalk of the blossom is used as a soap substitute; The plants tolerate clipping and make an attractive informal hedge;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  Slow
Flower Color [2]  White
Foliage Color [2]  Green
Fruit Color [2]  Brown
Fruit Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Height [3]  8.2 feet (2.5 m)
Width [3]  8.2 feet (2.5 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [2]  USDA Zone: 4 Low Temperature: -30 F° (-34.4 C°) → -20 F° (-28.9 C°)
Light Preference [2]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [2]  Moderate Acid
Soil Fertility [2]  Intermediate
Water Use [2]  High
View Plants For A Future Record : Clethra alnifolia

Protected Areas

Predators

Chionaspis furfura (Harris's bark-louse)[4]
Olethreutes inornatana (Inornate Olethreutes)[5]
Pyrrharctia isabella (banded woollybear)[5]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 4Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 5HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0