Cleyera
Ternstroemia gymnanthera
Glossy, dark leaves that blush bronze and red through the seasons on a neat, upright evergreen for hedges and screens that rarely needs pruning. Best in part shade and acid soil that drains well.
- Mature size
- 10 × 6 ft
- 3 × 1.8 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 7a–10b
- USDA
- Sun
- Part shade
- Water
- Medium
- Blooms
- Apr–May
Cleyera at its mature size
A mature Cleyera grows to about 10 ft tall and 6 ft wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, UF/IFAS Extension.
Through the year
What Cleyera looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Jun–Mar
Glossy dark green leaves with bronze-red tints.
In flower · Apr–May
Small creamy flowers among the leaves.
Growing Cleyera
- Grows well in
- The Southeast and the Plains and Mountain West.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Privacy screen, hedge, specimen, and shade garden
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Japan, Korea, and China
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Cleyera, that’s about 6 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Cleyera in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.