Clethra acuminata

Clethra acuminata can reach as high as {{convert|6|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall. It has alternately arranged, acuminate leaves with fine teeth along the margins, {{Convert|8 - 20|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, glabrous above and slightly hairy or glabrous underneath. Clethra acuminata is a dicot perennial{{Cite web |title=USDA Plants Database |url=https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=CLAC3 |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=plants.usda.gov}} and a temperate deciduous shrub.{{Cite journal |last=Sleumer |first=H. |date=1972-01-01 |title=Clethraceae |url=https://repository.naturalis.nl/pub/532544/ |journal=Flora Malesiana - Series 1, Spermatophyta |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=139–150 |issn=1872-924X}} The leaves are simple and crowded towards the ends of branches, and the bisexual flowers are typically white and bell-shaped and less than one inch in length.{{Cite web |title=Clethra acuminata (Cinnamonbark Clethra, Cinnamon Clethra, Mountain Pepperbush, Mountain Sweet-pepperbush) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/clethra-acuminata/ |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=plants.ces.ncsu.edu}} The flowers of Clethra acuminata grow in cone shaped racemes that vary from three to eight inches in length. The flowers are rich in nectar, which helps to support native pollinators. The flowers of C. acuminata bloom from the months of June to August. C. acuminata flowers are lost during winter and are replaced by brown capsule fruit.{{Cite web |title=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin |url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CLAC3 |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=www.wildflower.org}} The seeds are typically eaten by birds and are displayed from September to October. The leaves of C. acuminata turn yellow and orange during the fall.{{Cite web |title=Cinnamon Clethera, Clethra acuminata, Native Plants |url=https://mtcubacenter.org/plants/cinnamon-clethra/ |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=Mt. Cuba Center |language=en}} As C. acuminata ages, the bark peels to show a cinnamon colored interior; this is where one of its common names, cinnamon clethra, originates. Clethra acuminata can grow from eight to twenty feet in height and four to six feet in width. Bark on older plants splits and peels in thin sheets, revealing cinnamon colored bark underneath.Michaux, André. Flora Boreali-Americana 1: 260. 1803.{{Cite web |title=Clethra acuminata (Cinnamonbark Clethra, Cinnamon Clethra, Mountain Pepperbush, Mountain Sweet-pepperbush) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/clethra-acuminata/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |website=plants.ces.ncsu.edu}}{{Cite book |last=Swanson |first=Robert |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.56021/9780801845550 |title=A Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of the Southern Appalachians |date=1994 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-4555-0}} Inflorescences are {{Convert|3-8|in|cm|abbr=}} racemes with bell-shaped white flowers.

Clethra acumniata is commonly mistaken for Clethra alnifolia due to their similar appearances, the differences are many, but the most recognizable difference lies in their leaf shapeLee, M. T. (2023). Flora of the southeastern US. Flora of the Southeastern US. https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/ {{Cite web |title=Leaves of Clethra and Itea |url=http://www.namethatplant.net/gallery_compari.shtml?compare=leaves%20of%20Clethra%20and%20Itea |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Name that Plant}} Clethra acuminata has 8–20 cm long leaves that do not have deep serrations while Clethra alnifolia has 7–10 cm long leaves with deep serrations along the upper half of the leaf's edges. Clethra accuminata is also different from Clethra alnifolia at its pubescent stages and in the number of vascular suppliers to the sepals.{{Cite journal |last=Kavaljian |first=Leroy G. |date=June 1952 |title=The Floral Morphology of Clethra alnifolia with some Notes on C. acuminata and C. arborea. Contributions from the Hull Botanical Laboratory 632 |journal=Botanical Gazette |language=en |volume=113 |issue=4 |pages=392–413 |doi=10.1086/335730 |issn=0006-8071}}

Clethra acuminata is distributed from northwest Georgia to southwest Pennsylvania. It tends to be found in hardwood forests in the higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains as an understory component.{{Cite journal |last=Wilbur |first=Robert L. |last2=Hespenheide |first2=Henry A. |date=1967 |title=The Genus Clethra (Clethraceae) in the United States |jstor=24333213 |journal=Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=82–88 |issn=0013-6220}} Clethra acuminata lives in the 6a, 6b, 7a, and 7b USDA identified tolerance zones.{{Cite web |title=Clethra acuminata (Cinnamonbark Clethra, Cinnamon Clethra, Mountain Pepperbush, Mountain Sweet-pepperbush) |website=North Carolina Cooperative Extension |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/clethra-acuminata/ |access-date=2023-11-12}} Clethra acuminata's sister species Clethra alnifolia is found along the coast from as north as New York and as south as Texas, while going as far west as Tennessee.Lee, M. T. (2023). Flora of the southeastern US. Flora of the Southeastern US. https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/

Clethra acuminata was discovered and named by French botanist Andre Michaux in his work The Flora Boreali published in 1829-1840.{{Cite web |title=Clethra acuminata |website=International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/327566-1 |access-date=2023-11-12}}

The primary modern use of Clethra acuminata outside of its native habitat is in landscape planting as an ornamental. The bark of C. acuminata was used by the native Cherokee trip as an antiemetic taken to ease vomiting, as well as an emetic to induce vomiting.{{Cite web |title=BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database |url=http://naeb.brit.org/uses/10356/ |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=naeb.brit.org}}{{Cite web |title=BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database |url=http://naeb.brit.org/uses/10355/ |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=naeb.brit.org}}

Clethra acuminata should be grown in moist soil, and has been recognized as an important pollinator plant, in native plant gardens, supporting and attracting hummingbirds, butterflies, and honeybees.{{Cite web|title=Planting Guides|url=https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/OzarkBroadleafrx1FINAL_171017_085901.pdf|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Pollinator.org|language=en-US}} Clethra acuminata is most successfully cultivated when grown in partial sun. If grown successfully, C. acuminata can grow to more than twenty feet tall. The best soil type for C. acuminata is moist, humus-rich, an acidic pH less than six is preferable, as well as a rockier soil type.{{Cite web |title=Clethra acuminata (Cinnamonbark Clethra, Cinnamon Clethra, Mountain Pepperbush, Mountain Sweet-pepperbush) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/clethra-acuminata/ |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=plants.ces.ncsu.edu}} There are no common pest issues; however, root rot is common.{{Cite web |title=Clethra acuminata (Cinnamonbark Clethra, Cinnamon Clethra, Mountain Pepperbush, Mountain Sweet-pepperbush) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/clethra-acuminata/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=plants.ces.ncsu.edu}} There is no seed pretreatment required for seed germination. Clethra acuminata responds well to pruning and maintains its shape well.{{Cite journal |last=Towe |first=L. Clarence |date=1996 |title=New Companion Plants: Clethra Comeback |url=https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v50n4/v50n4-towe.html |journal=Journal American Rhododendron Society |volume=50 |issue=4 |issn=0745-7839}} Clethra acuminata is a good choice for cultivation due to its heartiness against common pests -including deer-, disease, and physiological problems.

Clethra acuminata can be propagated from cuttings or from seeds.{{Cite web |title=Clethra acuminata |url=https://canr.udel.edu/udbg/?plant=clethra-acuminata |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=UDBG |language=en-US}} The best time for softwood cuttings of C. acuminata is early summer.{{Cite web |title=Summersweet Clethra |url=https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/summersweet-clethra/ |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=Clemson University |language=en-US}}

Clethra acuminata is considered apparently secure in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.{{Cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138596/Clethra_acuminata |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=explorer.natureserve.org}} In Pennsylvania and Louisiana C. acuminata is considered critically imperiled. In South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee Clethra acuminata does not currently have a status rank. 

{{Gallery

|title=Pictures of Clethra acuminata (mountain pepper bush)

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|File:ClethraAcuminata3.jpg

|Peeling cinnamon-colored bark of Clethra acuminata

| alt1=Close up of peeling cinnamon-colored bark of Clethra acuminata

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|Another example of the peeling cinnamon-colored bark of Clethra acuminata

| alt2=Close up of peeling cinnamon-colored bark of Clethra acuminata with thin sheets visible sticking out from the branch

|File:Clethra acuminata (Cinnamon Clethra) (35646549903).jpg

|Inflorescence of Clethra acuminata

| alt3=Raceme inflorescences with many small white flowers on light green stems and dark green leaves in the background

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acuminata

Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States

Category:Flora of the Appalachian Mountains

Category:Taxa named by André Michaux