Japanese name: コバノズイナ（小葉瑞菜） Scientific name:Itea virginica
[Overview]
A deciduous shrub about 1–2 m tall.
The leaves are simple and alternate, elliptic to obovate, 5–12 cm long, with fine spiny serrations on the margins.
White hairs grow on the veins on the underside of the leaves.
The leaves turn red in autumn.
Racemes about 10 cm long emerge at the branch tips or leaf axils and bear many flowers densely.
The flowers are cream-colored, 5-petaled, about 1 cm across, and fragrant.
The fruit is a capsule that splits open along vertical grooves when ripe.
[History]
It arrived in Japan in the early Meiji era.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
It prefers sun to partial shade and dislikes dryness.
It is hardy, tolerating both cold and heat.
