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Ternstroemia gymnanthera, Cleyera

Most clip this plant into a shrub, but with initial training and some pruning a neat small multi-trunked tree can be produced. Cleyera is tolerant of full sun but grows best in partial shade in rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained, acid soil. Foliage may burn in full sun in winter. The leaves will turn yellow if the soil is alkaline. Pruning is not usually necessary on slow-growing cleyera but new growth may be pinched to encourage compactness, particularly in the shade. I have seen many plants clipped and maintained as hedges for a long time. The clean, dense, neat, upright growth of Cleyera makes it a good choice as an accent plant as well as a screen or hedge. Plants can provide the effect of red tip photinia without the disease problems. Pollen causes mild allergy symptoms. Nice variegated cultivars exist in production.

This plant can be grown as a multi-trunk tree for use in highway median strips and in landscapes, or can be used as a street tree where there is not a need for tall-vehicle clearance beneath the crown. The small stature and low, spreading, branching habit makes pruning for vehicular clearance difficult unless it is properly trained from an early age to develop one main trunk. The effort required initially to train this tree for street tree use, however, may be offset by its advantages.