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Mountain Sweet-pepperbush

Clethra acuminata

Found in moist forests, heath balds, streambanks, margins of rock outcrops at high elevations. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

57
Strong

Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 100%

Height
8–20 feet
Spread
4–6 feet
Light
Dappled sunlight, Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Usually moist

Space about 5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 4 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Leaves
Deciduous
Bloom
Summer
Fruiting season
September to October

Recorded in 1 Alabama county.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 4

Mountain balds

Round Bald
Grassy bald on a high ridge. Shown: Round Bald, Mitchell County, North Carolina and Carter County, Tennessee, a neighboring state.Round Bald, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record. Faithful JPEG display decode of embedded JP2; no AI or color enhancement. Phone derivative resized proportionally.

Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits

Trees and rocks on Little Kennesaw Mountain.
Named place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trees and rocks on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 117 animals.

All wildlife of Alabama

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

9CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL

Genus host records with ranges including AL · Clethra

  • Coelodasys unicornisUnicorn Caterpillar Moth
  • Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
  • Herpetogramma thestealisZigzag Herpetogramma, Subtle-Feathered Grass Moth
  • Lycia ypsilonWoolly Gray
  • Nola clethraeSweet Pepperbush Nola
  • Olethreutes inornatanaInornate Olethreutes
  • Prochoerodes lineolaLarge Maple Spanworm Moth
  • Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
  • Scopula limboundataLarge Lace-Border
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
11BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Clethra

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Clethraceae
Hardiness
Zones 6a–7b
Soil pH
Acidic
Flower color
White
Fruit begins
September
Fruit ends
October
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Mountain Pepper Bush; Mountain Sweet pepperbush

Conservation status

Alabama rankS1
Global rankG4
AL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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How to check your spot

Sources