sweet pepperbush

[ pep-er-boosh ]

noun

1. a shrub, Clethra alnifolia, of the eastern and southern coastal U.S., having numerous erect clusters of white or pinkish flowers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweet pepperbush¹

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

One of the shrubs that blooms at this season of the year is the Sweet Pepperbush, which is becoming popular as a cultivated shrub in our gardens and lawns.

From Project Gutenberg

On weekend days, or mornings when I needed a psychic kick-start, Wallis and I ventured farther afield, to Peaked Hill, with its panoramic view atop the highest point on the island; over to the old Kings Highway, which tucks in behind Abel’s Hill and winds north to Meetinghouse Road; up to Middle Road Sanctuary, where the huckleberries and sweet pepperbush perfume the forest.

From New York Times

Like many another neglected native plant, the beautiful sweet pepperbush improves under cultivation; and when the departed lilacs, syringa, snowball, and blossoming almond, found with almost monotonous frequency in every American garden, leave a blank in the shrubbery at midsummer, these fleecy white spikes should exhale their spicy breath about our homes.

From Project Gutenberg