Habitat

• native to Japan
• zone 4

Habit and Form

• small, deciduous shrub
• broad mounded shape
• 2' to 4' high with an equal spread
• slow growth rate
• fine texture, medium in winter months

Summer Foliage

• deciduous, simple leaves
• opposite leaf arrangement
• lanceolate leaf shape
• 1" to 3" long and about 0.5' wide
• leaf base is rounded
• leaf tip is pointed
• unequal serrated leaf margins
• medium green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

• no fall color

Flowers

• pure white flowers
• small, only about 0.5" in diameter
• blooms in late May
• borne in racemes
• plants become covered in flowers
• short blooming time, 1 to 2 weeks

Fruit

• dry brown capsules
• not ornamentally important

Bark

• very slender stems
• older bark tends to exfoliate
• young bark in yellowish, glabrous
• linear leaf scar
• sessile buds, brownish

Culture

• easily transplanted
• prefers well-drained soil
• full sun
• prune after flowering
• pH adaptable
• renewal pruning is effective

Landscape Use

• foundation planting
• mass or group
• flowering effect
• shrub border
• for texture

Liabilities

• leaf spot
• aphids
• leaf minor
• can look unkempt and need renewal pruning

ID Features

• small mounded deciduous shrub
• opposite leaf arrangement
• unequal serrated leaf margins
• white flowers in late May
• linear leaf scars

Propagation

• by softwood cuttings
• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

'Nikko' (perhaps the same as 'Nana') - A popular plant highly promoted in the last decade, 'Nikko' forms a neat, dense low mound or groundcover 2' tall and at least twice as wide. The blooms are abundant and pure white in spring, and the fall foliage can be a good red.

'Variegata' - A form occasionally encountered in specialist nurseries, this plant has leaves that are broadly-margined with white. Other traits are similar to the species. A striking shrub perhaps useful in lightening up small areas.