Spiraea corymbosa |
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dwarf spiraea, shinyleaf meadowsweet |
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Habit | Shrubs, 3–10(–15) dm. |
Stems | erect to arching, branched. |
Leaves | petiole 3–8 mm, sparsely hairy; blade ovate to elliptic or suborbiculate, 2–10 × 1–2.5 cm, coriaceous, base obtuse, rounded, or subcordate, margins irregularly, coarsely and sharply doubly serrate from midpoint to apex, teeth acute and mucronate, number of primary and secondary serrations 1 times number of secondary veins (excluding inter-secondary veins), venation pinnate cladodromous, secondary veins not prominent, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded, abaxial surface mostly glabrous, adaxial glabrous. |
Inflorescences | mostly terminal, corymbiform, 2–5 × 3–10 cm height 0.4–1.1 times diam.; branches rarely in axils of leaves, glabrous or glabrate. |
Pedicels | 1–3 mm, glabrous or glabrate. |
Flowers | 4–7 mm diam.; hypanthia hemispheric, 0.8–1 mm, abaxial surface glabrous or pubescent, adaxial glabrous; sepals triangular, 0.5–1 mm; petals chalky white to pink, orbiculate, 1.3–1.5 mm; staminodes 5–15 reduced to serrations; stamens 15–20, 2 times petal length. |
Follicles | nearly fusiform, 2–3 mm, shiny, glabrous. |
2n | = 36. |
Spiraea corymbosa |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Oct; fruiting Jun–Nov. |
Habitat | Open rocky soil, rocky, lightly wooded sites, dry or fast draining slopes, rocky edges of woods |
Elevation | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) |
Distribution |
GA; MA; MD; NC; NJ; PA; TN; VA; WV; NS; ON [Introduced in e Europe] |
Discussion | H. A. Gleason and A. Cronquist (1963) and L. J. Uttal (1974) considered Spiraea corymbosa to be a variety of S. betulifolia. K. Sax (1936) found S. corymbosa to be a triploid with complete pollen sterility and hypothesized that it must exist as a diploid, or form viable egg cells, because it is involved in hybrids. If so, these cytological differences may be correlated with some morphological variation. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 403. |
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Spiraeeae > Spiraea |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | S. betulifolia var. corymbosa, S. ostryfolia, S. repens, S. sororia |
Name authority | Rafinesque: Précis Découv. Somiol., 36. (1814) |
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