Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Clethra alnifolia
FAMILY
Cyrillaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Coastal Sweet-pepperbush at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Clethra alnifolia
FAMILY
Clethraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Clethra alnifolia var. alnifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Clethra alnifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 143-01-002a:
Clethra alnifolia var. alnifolia FAMILY Clethraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Clethra alnifolia
COMMON NAME:
Coastal Sweet-pepperbush, Coastal White-alder
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_clal3_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_clal3_006_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm160416_264
April Lowndes County GA
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_clethra_alnifolia_2
July
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_clethra_alnifolia_3
July
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_clethra_alnifolia_4b
July
Pedicels 2-4mm, shortly stellate-hairy; bract shorter than flower, per Flora of North America.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_clethra_alnifolia_4c
July
Bright white flowers in showy terminal racemes beyond the uppermost leaves, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm0308a_16
August Williamsburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0508h_06b
August Greenville County SC
In cultivation
Small flowers with long stamens, a protruding style, and a spicy fragrance, per Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002).
)
JK Marlow jkm0508h_08b
August Greenville County SC
In cultivation
Fruit a hairy, spherical capsule within a persistent calyx, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm0509a_25
September Greenville County SC
In cultivation
)
JK Marlow s050902_g
September Greenville County SC
In cultivation
Leaves sharply toothed (on upper half of blade), w parallel lateral veins, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
COMPARE
leaves of Clethra and Itea
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Clethra alnifolia
FAMILY
Cyrillaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Clethra alnifolia
FAMILY
Clethraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Clethra alnifolia var. alnifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Clethra alnifolia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 143-01-002a:
Clethra alnifolia var. alnifolia
FAMILY
Clethraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Clethra alnifolia
346
Shrub
Perennial
Habitat: pocosins, blackwater swamp forests, nonriverine swamp forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Coastal Plain (rare in Piedmont)
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer
White
Bisexual
5 sepals
5 petals
10 stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p122
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p324
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p080
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p240
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p124
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p063
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p102
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p310
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p309
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p167
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p172
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p157
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p123
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p106
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p169