Leucothoë axillaris (Lam.) D. Don

An evergreen shrub 2 to 4 ft high, with spreading branches zigzagged towards the end, clothed with very short down when young. Leaves leathery, ovate to ovate-oblong, 2 to 41⁄2 in. long, 3⁄4 to 11⁄2 in. wide, usually abruptly and shortly pointed, spine-toothed, mainly in the upper half, dark glossy green and glabrous above, pale and with scattered hairs beneath; stalk 1⁄4 in. or less long. Flowers produced during April and May in axillary racemes 1 to 21⁄2 in. long, crowded, and very shortly stalked. Corolla white, cylindrical or pitcher-shaped, narrowing slightly towards the mouth, where are five ovate teeth; sepals ovate; flower-stalks minutely downy.

Native of the south-eastern United States from Virginia southwards; introduced in 1765. It is not so common in cultivation as L. fontanesiana, which it much resembles, and with which it is much confused. Its leaves, however, are comparatively shorter and broader, and abruptly pointed; their stalks are also shorter, and the sepals are broader. Coming from the lowlands of Virginia, Florida, etc., it is much less hardy than L. fontanesiana, which inhabits the mountains. Personally, I have only seen one or two plants, and they were not in good health. A dwarf form of L. fontanesiana is sometimes offered for it.