This cultivar called 'Morton' or 'Scarlet Beauty' was selected by Kris Bachtell, once the lead propagator now the head administrator, of the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois because it was doing better than other plants of the species that had been planted in the neutral soil reaction of the site of around pH of 7.0, showing greater tolerance of alkaline reaction than most of the species. (The largest number of pH readings in topsoil that I have gotten in my Chicago homeland are from 6.8 to 7.1, though I have had down to 6.5 where there is or was climax forest.) This higher tolerance allows the plant to bear greener leaves, as plants in pH of more than 6.5 often show some yellowing. This cultivar also is more cold hardy than most selections in that it survives down to about minus 25 degrees F. It also is a little more drought tolerant. This Sweetspire develops a good orange-red fall color. This cultivar is a 2011 introduction from the nursery organization of Chicagoland Grows. It is sold at a good number of conventional nurseries in the Chicago, IL area, as Hinsdale Nursery and The Growing Place in Naperville & Aurora, IL. There are some plantings of it at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

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