# Cinnamon Clethra (Clethra acuminata) > Peeling cinnamon-red bark and drooping spikes of spicy, fragrant white flowers in summer, on a tall shrub of Appalachian mountain slopes. Also called mountain sweet pepperbush, mountain pepperbush, cinnamonbark clethra. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cinnamon-clethra/ ![Cinnamon clethra (Clethra acuminata) drooping raceme of small white flowers among toothed leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/cinnamon-clethra-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Averater, CC BY 4.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AClethra_acuminata_GotBot_2015_001.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 8 to 20 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 6 to 7 - Grows wild in: The Appalachians, rich moist slopes, rocky ground and the forest understory - Native range: 9 states, north and east to Pennsylvania, south to Georgia and west to Alabama (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) - Sun: Part, Full, Shade - Soil moisture: Average, Dry - Growth rate: Medium - Traits: Showy flowers, Fall color, Wildlife value, Tolerates shade - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Cinnamon clethra is the mountain cousin of our sweet pepperbush, a tall shrub or small tree of the Appalachian mountains. As it ages, its outer bark peels away to show cinnamon-red bark beneath, which gives the plant its name. It grows far taller than sweet pepperbush, blooms a little earlier, and has leaves that taper to a long point. Pennsylvania lists it as endangered, and Alabama ranks it critically imperiled. Grow it as a specimen where its bark can be seen up close, or as an understory tree at a woodland edge. ## Size, growth and what to expect It grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It grows 8 to 20 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide, as a many-stemmed shrub or small tree that often suckers. Drooping spikes 3 to 8 inches long of small, spicy-scented white flowers open from June to August, from the base toward the tip. Bumble bees find them especially valuable, hummingbirds and butterflies come to the nectar, and birds eat the seed. The leaves turn yellow to orange in fall. The brown capsules show from September, but in North Carolina clethra seed ripens only in November, long after the leaves fall. It grows wild in the mountains from Pennsylvania to northern Georgia and Alabama. Its home is wooded bluffs, cliffs and moist ravines between about 1,600 and 4,600 feet. ## How to grow Cinnamon Clethra Cinnamon clethra grows in sun or dappled shade, and it blooms best with some sun. It wants a moist, acid soil rich in humus that drains well, and rocky ground suits it. Once established it adapts to drier sites. Set plants 5 feet apart and keep them 5 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch with leaves, clear of the stems. The seed is tiny and needs no chilling. Sow it on the surface of a damp mix, uncovered, at room temperature in good light under mist or a clear cover. Seedlings come up within two weeks. Water weekly through the first two summers, since young plants die in drought before their roots are down. Deer browse it only moderately, but cage young plants where deer are common. It flowers on new growth, so prune in late winter. Train it to one trunk as a small tree, or let it grow as a clump. Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees are its likely pollinators, so there are no male and female plants to pair. The bees it draws can be a nuisance beside a walk or a seat. Fungal dieback and root rot sometimes affect it. ## Sources - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Clethra acuminata](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/clethra-acuminata/) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Clethra acuminata](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CLAC3) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Clethra chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Clethra.pdf) - [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Clethra acuminata](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250092294) - [Trees and Shrubs Online: Clethra acuminata](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/clethra/clethra-acuminata/) - [NatureServe Explorer: Clethra acuminata](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.138596/Clethra_acuminata) - [Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program: Species and Natural Features List](https://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/SpeciesFeatures.aspx) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Cinnamon Clethra, add ?species=cinnamon-clethra with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=cinnamon-clethra&zone=6&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Cinnamon Clethra](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=cinnamon-clethra): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=cinnamon-clethra - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Cinnamon Clethra is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=cinnamon-clethra - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Cinnamon Clethra needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=cinnamon-clethra:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Cinnamon Clethra flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.