WHITE ALDER SWEET PEPPERBUSH ALDERLEAVED CLETHRA

(Clethra alnifolia) White Alder family



Flowers - Very fragrant, white, about 1/3 in. across, borne in

long, narrow, upright, clustered spikes, with awl-shaped bracts.

Calyx of 5 sepals; 5 longer petals; 10 protruding stamens, the

style longest. Stem: A much-branched shrub, 3 to 10 ft. high.

Leaves: Alternate, oblong or ovate, finely saw-edged above the

middle at least, green on both sides, tapering at base into short

petioles.

Preferred Habitat - Low, wet woodland and roadside thickets;

swamps; beside slow streams; meadows.

Flowering Season - July-August.

Distribution - Chiefly near the coast, in States bordering the

Atlantic Ocean.



Like many another neglected native plant, the beautiful sweet

pepperbush improves under cultivation; and when the departed

lilacs, syringa, snowball, and blossoming almond, found with

almost monotonous frequency in every American garden, leave a

blank in the shrubbery at midsummer, these fleecy white spikes

should exhale their spicy breath about our homes. But wild

flowers, like a prophet, may remain long without honor in their

own country. This and a similar but more hairy species found in

the Alleghany region, the MOUNTAIN SWEET PEPPERBUSH (C.

acuminata), with pointed leaves, pale beneath, and spreading or

drooping flower-spikes, go abroad to be appreciated. Planted

beside lakes and streams on noblemen's estates, how overpowering

must their fragrance be in the heavy, moisture-laden air of

England! Even in our drier atmosphere, it hangs about the

thickets like incense.





ROUND-LEAVED PYROLA; PEAR-LEAVED, or FALSE WINTERGREEN; INDIAN or