Clethra tomentosa ‘Woodlander's Sarah’ Allen Bush A deciduous shrub native to

A deciduous shrub native to northwestern China

fills the great majority of the spice jars labeled simply cinnamon

mucilaginous roots as a soothing demulcent

fringed panicles of pure white

Clethra tomentosa ‘Woodlander's Sarah’ Allen Bush A deciduous shrub native toThe summersweets are among the most fragrant of American shrubs, and the southern woolly summersweet, Clethra tomentosa, carries the whole tribe's gifts: colonies of upright stems in moist, acid ground, and terminal spikes of white flowers that pour a honey and clove perfume across the July garden. Country people knew the plant as Sweet Pepperbush, for the peppercorn seed heads, and the crushed flowers even raise a soft lather once used as a woodland