Family: Phyllanthaceae

Snow bush is a colorful shrub with a dense, upright habit. Striking fern-like foliage is attached to pink or red zig-zag stems. Older leaves are variegated red, green, and white. New leaves flush with a molted white color, reminiscent of a light snowfall, hence the common name. The leaves are the most colorful in the Fall. Insignificant flowers grow in the Spring. The fruit is a red berry.

Native to Vanuatu and New Caledonia, snow bush has been cultivated in Hawaii since the 1890s. By 1917 it was one of the most common hedge plants in Honolulu. Today mock orange is likely the most common, but snow bush is a close second. Propagation is easy-stem cuttings, root offshoots, or by seed. 

Snow bush thrives in fertile soil with lots of water. It needs regular shaping to maintain the desired shape. And, more importantly, to encourage new growth to flush. It does not have any pests. 

Plant Uses:

• Container plant
• Hedge
• Ornamental

Plant Dangers:

• No dangers

High Risk Traits:

• High tropical/subtropical climate suitability
  
• Tolerates disturbance; suckers readily
  
• Shade tolerant at some life stages
  
• Widely cultivated (intentional dispersal)
  
• Reported as naturalized in Maui and Hawai'i

Low Risk Traits:

• Not reported as a weed in its introduced range (despite naturalization)
  
• No spines, toxins, or allelopathy
  
• Low seed production (<1000/m²)
  
• Does not reproduce by fragmentation