# Mountain Sweetbells (Eubotrys recurva)

> Arching sprays of white bells on bare red twigs in spring and red leaves in fall, on a deciduous mountain shrub of the southern Appalachians.

Also called red-twig doghobble, recurved doghobble, Leucothoe recurva, Andromeda recurva. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mountain-sweetbells/

![Mountain sweetbells (Eubotrys recurva) row of white bells hanging from a curved spray on a red twig](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/mountain-sweetbells-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Jason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AEubotrys_recurva_-_Flickr_-_pellaea_%281%29.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 3 to 12 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 9
- Grows wild in: The Appalachians, rich moist slopes, the forest understory and rocky ground
- Native range: 8 states, north to West Virginia, south to Georgia and west to Alabama (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia). Also recorded in 2 other states, outside its native range
- Sun: Part, Shade
- Soil moisture: Average
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Rare, Showy flowers, Fall color, Wildlife value
- 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 sweetbells is a deciduous shrub of the southern and central Appalachians, found in damp mountain woods, on heath balds and granite domes and at the edges of bogs. Its white bells hang in a row along curved sprays at the tips of last year's red twigs, before the new leaves open. It is the upland, leaf-dropping cousin of our swamp doghobble. Kentucky lists it as endangered, and NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in Georgia and West Virginia. Mass it along a shaded woodland path or on a moist slope, where its spring bells and red fall leaves can be seen.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as medium, like our swamp doghobble, about a foot and a half a year. It is a low, spreading, twiggy shrub, usually 6 to 8 feet tall, and it can reach 12 feet.

White, urn-shaped bells about a third of an inch long hang from curved, one-sided sprays from April into June, before the leaves. The leaves turn red in fall. The round capsules turn from green to brown from August to October, and birds eat the seeds.

It grows wild in the mountains from West Virginia and Kentucky south to Georgia and Alabama, in damp woods, heath balds, granite domes and bogs up to about 5,000 feet. Records from New York and Ohio may be escaped or naturalized plants.

## How to grow Mountain Sweetbells

Mountain sweetbells does best in part shade, and it takes deep shade or sun. It needs a moist, fertile, acid soil that drains well. Set plants 5 feet apart and keep them 4 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. Seed of its relative mountain doghobble needs light and no chilling, so sow it on the surface of a damp, fine mix, uncovered, in good light.

Water weekly through the first two summers. Deer tend to leave it alone. Prune, if at all, right after bloom, since the flowers come on last year's twigs.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, and bees and butterflies visit the flowers. It is harmful to cats, dogs and horses if they eat it.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Eubotrys recurva](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065698)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Eubotrys recurva](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/eubotrys-recurva/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Eubotrys recurvus](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=EURE18)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Leucothoe recurva](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.157461/Leucothoe_recurva)
- [Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves: Kentucky Rare Plant List, September 30, 2022](https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/biodiversity/Documents/2022%20Kentucky%20Rare%20Plant%20List%202.pdf)
- [Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Recurved Dog-hobble](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=15782)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Leucothoe chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Leucothoe.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)
- [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 birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/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 Sweetbells, add ?species=mountain-sweetbells with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=mountain-sweetbells&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Mountain Sweetbells](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=mountain-sweetbells): 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-sweetbells
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Mountain Sweetbells 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-sweetbells
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Mountain Sweetbells 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-sweetbells:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Mountain Sweetbells flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.