Clethra alnifolia cleth·raal·ni·folia uncommon noun 1. shrub of eastern and southern coastal United States having beautiful racemes of spice-scented white flowers Synonymssweet pepperbushpepper bushsummer sweetwhite alderClethra alnifolia Related words Broader terms shrub WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved.