Clerodendrum trichotomum, with the ungainly common name ”harlequin glorybower”.

It does have the potential to spread by underground sprouts, and seeds may pop up all over the neighborhood.

Sometimes referred to as the "peanut butter and jelly" shrub, as the leaves smell like peanut butter (slightly rancid PB to be honest) and the flowers smell like strawberry jelly.

The leaves smell terrible to me; if peanut butter smelled like that I wouldn’t touch the stuff.

If it smells that bad, spreads by rhizomes and you don’t like it, have someone remove it and plant an appropriate tree or shrubs for your zone. IMO…

debra

I grew this shrubby tree for years in a previous garden and it was perfectly well behaved for me (although it was originally given to me by a former hort prof who did dig up shoots to share). I loved the scent of the flowers and the fact that it bloomed so profusely at this time of year when few other trees or shrubs do.

And I did not find the scent of the leaves that offensive....only when bruised or crushed.

I’m completely unfamiliar with this plant, but that common name got my attention. It‘s a nice feature that it flowers so late, kind of like Amur maackia for me, which is just finishing up. Scent seems to be an open question on the glorybower.

They are common over here and are generally grown as small, neat, single trunked trees, not shrubs like the photo. While they do send up the suckers they don't spread by rhizomes like C bungeii and are no worse than lilac. In flower it is a fine sight and the display continues with the colourful fruit. Never been aware of any problematic smell when standing near one.

Thanks sam -- unusual (here in the east US) and interesting shrub.

I looked it up, it has an extensive native range in Asia. Foliage has no fall color. I don't get it, what is the connection with the name and a jester like this?

Well, it looks like butterflies like it...

Sam - look at pictures of the fruit.

Harlequin/jester hats:

thanks, harlequin/jester hats works for me.

Curiously, I've don't recall hearing anyone use that name in conversation over here. It's not much less of a mouthful than the proper name and seems rather contrived. I first saw one as a kid in a neighbour's garden. She called it a Clerodendrum, and so did everyone else.

Agreed. I’ve only heard it called ”peanut butter tree”, otherwise.

Not hardy here. Per the Missouri Botanical Garden, "Winter hardy to USDA Zones 7-10 ... In St. Louis, it is not reliably winter hardy and, if attempted, should be sited in a protected location with a winter mulch."

JC Raulston Arboretum webpage says, "There is a botanical variety of C. trichotomum, var. fargesii, native to China and Taiwan, that is similar to the species but has smooth stems and lacks the red color in the calyx. This botanical variety has such strong fragrance that it can be offensive to sensitive noses!"

It was self-seeding pretty aggressively so I got rid of it in my garden.

Interesting. Never seen a seedling here. Maybe it needs summer heat to ripen.

They tend to be stoloniferous around here.

Yeah, they can sucker pretty well when happy but I've yet to see any seedlings sprouting with the good number of trees I'm familiar with. Not sure the berries have time to ripen sufficiently in our cool summers.

There are definitely seedlings LOL. It's not going send a stolon 150' across the garden, especially a couple years after it was cut down!

In fact I spotted a seedling yesterday and stopped myself from zapping it with glyphosate. I thought, 'heck, that gardenweb thread reminded me of how much I miss that plant'. I might leave it! The foliage does smell weird but only if you crush or rub it. It's not like Zanthoxylum simulans where on a hot day you can literally small the whole plant, and at some distance too. Toona 'Flamingo' is the same, but it seems more "smellable" on still humid nights. Like a strange mix beef and onion soup and burning rubber! 😱

FWIW pretty much all my camellias self seed now. Not to humble brag but I have high quality loamy soil so that probably helps these East Asian plants feel at home.