Habitat

• native to eastern and south central United States
• zone 5
• typically found in large suckering colonies in swamps and wet areas

Habit and Form

• 4' to 8' tall
• upright spreading habit with rounded head
• on older plants, the foliage is only on the upper half of the plant, making them somewhat leggy.
• young plants are dense and compact
• an evergreen shrub
• tends to form suckering colonies

Summer Foliage

• leaves mostly 1" to 2" long and 0.33" to 0.5" wide
• broadest above the middle
• usually with 2 notches in the leaf margins on each side of the apex creating a few teeth
• leaves evergreen
• leaves lustrous dark green
• alternate leaf arrangement

Autumn Foliage

• evergreen
• leaves can develop a purple-plum cast in winter. This is dependant on cultivars and exposure

Flowers

• dioecious, with male and female plants
• blooms in June
• male flowers in clusters and female flowers solitary
• flowers a small and dull white
• not ornamentally important

Fruit

• small black fruits born in September
• the 0.25" diameter fruits are held well into the next spring
• not especially showy, but probably display better than I. crenata
• white-fruited cultivars can be showy in fruit

Bark

• smooth
• gray-brown or slightly greenish
• newer stems generally quite green

Culture

• prefers adequate soil moisture and acidic pH
• full sun or partial shade is best
• relatively tolerant of salt
• tolerates periodic rejuvenation pruning to lower the height
• protect from harsh winter exposure

Landscape Use

• borders
• foundation plantings
• mass plantings
• wet locations
• possibly for seaside plantings

Liabilities

• needs ample soil moisture
• leaf spot disease
• tends to be pen and leggy at the base
• may need some pruning to maintain fullness
• foliar burn in exposed locations
• performs poorly on high pH soils

ID Features

• alternate leaves
• only a few teeth at the leaf apex
• upright growth with leggy, open base
• colonizing or suckering habit
• small black fruit

Propagation

• cultivars by semi-hardwood or winter cuttings
• seeds exhibit a deep dormancy and are slow to germinate

Cultivars/Varieties

'Compacta' - A common, popular clone that has denser branching and foliage than the species. It is a female form with black fruit and becomes an oval-rounded plant 6' tall and wide (though larger plants are known). It can become somewhat leggy with age without proper pruning.

'Ivory Queen', 'Leucocarpa' and 'Alba' - These are all forms (or renames) of the naturally-occuring white-fruited f. leucocarpa. They display lustrous, dark green foliage and rounded habits to 8' tall. The white fruit are more visible than the black fruit of the species.

'Chamzin' (Nordic®) - Marketed as an extremely cold hardy form (to -24 degrees F.), this plant is also notable for its broad growth habit (to 4' tall and wide) and dark green lustrous foliage. It appears to be a male (fruitless) selection.

'Shamrock' - Perhaps the most dwarf, slow-growing form in general commerce, this plant bears glossy deep green leaves on a rounded plant slowly reaching 3'-5' tall. This cultivar is rapidly gaining popularity, though observations indicate it may become leggy with age like other forms.