# Mountain Doghobble (Leucothoe fontanesiana)

> Arching evergreen stems hung with sprays of waxy white bells in spring, from the thicket shrub of southern Appalachian stream banks.

Also called highland doghobble, drooping leucothoe, drooping laurel, switch ivy, Leucothoe editorum. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-doghobble/

![Mountain doghobble (Leucothoe fontanesiana) racemes of white urn-shaped flowers under glossy leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/mountain-doghobble-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALeucothoe_fontanesiana_0zz.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 3 to 6 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 4 to 8
- Grows wild in: Stream banks, the Appalachians, rich moist slopes and the forest understory
- Native range: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Also recorded in 5 other states, outside its native range
- Sun: Part, Shade
- Soil moisture: Average, Wet
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Evergreen, Showy flowers, Tolerates shade, Winter interest, Erosion control
- 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

Mountain doghobble is the evergreen doghobble of the southern Appalachians, often growing beneath rosebay rhododendron. Its arching stems rise like a fountain, and it spreads underground into dense thickets. Those thickets once snared hunting dogs and horses, which is how it earned the names doghobble and fetterbush. Unlike our swamp doghobble, a deciduous shrub of coastal swamps, it keeps its glossy leaves all year. Virginia's natural heritage program tracks it as rare at the north end of its range. Use it to cover a shady bank or to edge a woodland path beside rhododendrons, where its thickets hold the soil.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator uses the medium rate of our swamp doghobble, about a foot and a half a year. It forms an arching mound 3 to 6 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide.

Racemes 2 to 3 inches long of waxy, white, urn-shaped flowers hang from the leaf axils from late April into June, with a pungent scent. The new shoots are red, and the leaves turn reddish bronze in fall and bronze-purple in winter. The capsules ripen in mid to late fall.

It grows wild in the southern Appalachians from Virginia and Tennessee south to Georgia and Alabama. Its home is woods along mountain streams, ravines and moist slopes. It also grows wild in Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, beyond its native range. The Massachusetts, New York and Kentucky plants are introduced.

## How to grow Mountain Doghobble

Mountain doghobble grows best in part shade and takes full shade. It grows in sun only where the soil stays moist. It wants a moist, cool, acid soil rich in organic matter. Clay, loam or sand will do, and it takes ground that is wet at times. Shelter it from drying winter wind, and give it moving air, since still, humid air brings leaf spot. Set plants 4 feet apart and keep them 4 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship potted. Plant them in spring, in a hole wider than the root ball and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch with leaves or pine needles, clear of the stems. The seed is dust-fine and needs light, with no chilling. Sow it on the surface of a damp, fine mix, uncovered, under a clear cover in good light. Warm days and cool nights speed it up, and most comes up within four weeks.

Water weekly through the first two summers, since it will not stand drought. Deer seldom browse it, so it rarely needs a cage. It flowers on last year's stems, so prune right after bloom. An old, leggy clump can be cut to the ground in spring to renew it.

Mountain doghobble carries both male and female parts in each flower, and bees and butterflies visit it. A plant sets seed with its own pollen, so one shrub bears alone. Leaf spot is its main trouble where air is still and humid, and winter sun and wind can scorch the leaves. The leaves and flowers are highly poisonous if eaten, to people and to dogs, cats and horses.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Leucothoe chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Leucothoe.pdf)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Leucothoe fontanesiana](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/leucothoe-fontanesiana/)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Leucothoe fontanesiana](https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=280049)
- [UConn Plant Database: Leucothoe fontanesiana](https://plantdatabase.uconn.edu/detail.php?pid=250)
- [Cornell Woody Plants Database: Leucothoe fontanesiana](https://woodyplants.cals.cornell.edu/plant/338)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Leucothoe fontanesiana](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LEFO)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Leucothoe fontanesiana](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065695)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online: Leucothoe fontanesiana](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/leucothoe/leucothoe-fontanesiana/)
- [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Leucothoe fontanesiana](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/leucothoe/fontanesiana/)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Leucothoe fontanesiana](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.137470/Leucothoe_fontanesiana)
- [Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia, Rare Plants, June 2026](https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf)

## 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)
- [Native shrubs and trees deer usually leave alone, and why the lists disagree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-shrubs-and-trees-deer-leave-alone/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)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Mountain Doghobble, add ?species=mountain-doghobble with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=mountain-doghobble&zone=4&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Mountain Doghobble](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=mountain-doghobble): 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=mountain-doghobble
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Mountain Doghobble 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=mountain-doghobble
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Mountain Doghobble 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=mountain-doghobble:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Mountain Doghobble flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.