Scientific Name: Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis
Common Name: dwarf sweet box
Family Name: Buxaceae
Origin: S.E. Asia / Japan / China
Hardiness Zone: Zone 6: (-23 to -18 °C)
Plant Type: Broadleaf evergreen, Ground cover
Mature Size: 0.4 - 0.7m x 0.6 - 1.0m (height x width)
Habit: Upright
Form: Mounded
Texture: Medium - fine
Landscape Uses: Fragrance, Ground cover, Group or mass planting, Mixed shrub border, Small garden/space, Winter interest, Woodland margin
Exposure: Part sun/part shade, Deep shade
Soil or Media: Acidic, Alkaline, Well-drained
Leaves: Simple, Alternate, Opposite, Leathery, Pinnate venation, Lustrous, Lanceolate, Entire
Flowers: Flowers clustered, White, Pink, Feb-Mar
Fruit: Drupe, Black, Oct-Nov-Dec, (Persistent)
Key ID Features:
Shrub dwarf, spreading evergreen; leaves dark green, waxy, alternate (rarely opposite); unpleasant leaf odor when crushed; flowers pink-tinged white, in auxiliary clusters with imbricate bracts; fruit blue-black drupe.