Spiraea corymbosa
Spiraea prunifolia
dwarf spiraea, shinyleaf meadowsweet
bridal-wreath spiraea, bridalwreath meadowsweet, bridalwreath spirea
erect to arching, branched.
erect, virgate, branched.
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.
petiole 1–4 mm, pubescent;
blade usually ovate to elliptic, sometimes oblanceolate, 1–4(–5) × 1–2 cm, membranous, base obtuse, margins serrulate, usually from near base to apex, sometimes only distally from middle, rarely nearly entire with few teeth apically, venation pinnate cladodromous, secondary veins not prominent, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface lanate to glabrescent, adaxial glabrate.
mostly terminal, corymbiform, 2–5 × 3–10 cm height 0.4–1.1 times diam.;
branches rarely in axils of leaves, glabrous or glabrate.
mostly axillary, usually hemispheric panicles, sometimes simple fascicles, 3–6-flowered, sessile, 2–3 × 1–3 cm;
bractlets 3–7 × 3–5 mm;
branches pubescent.
1–3 mm, glabrous or glabrate.
10–30 mm, pubescent.
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.
5–15 mm diam.;
hypanthia campanulate, 1–1.2 mm, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely hairy, adaxial glabrous;
sepals ovate to ovate-triangular, 1–3 mm;
petals white to cream, often with more than a single whorl of petals in most commonly escaped form, ovate to obovate, 2–10 mm;
staminodes 10–16, irregularly fused;
stamens 20–25, 0.5 times petal length.
nearly fusiform, 2–3 mm, shiny, glabrous.
oblanceoloid, 1.5–2 mm, glabrous, adaxial suture sparsely hairy.
= 36.
= 18.
Spiraea corymbosa
Spiraea prunifolia
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.)
Spiraea prunifolia is an ornamental shrub that can be found established in many areas. The double-flowered variant (most common in cultivation) may be assigned to var. prunifolia; single-flowered forms may be assigned to three other varieties [see Lu L. T. and C. Alexander (2003) for a key to native varieties in China]. L. H. Bailey et al. (1949), W. J. Bean (1970–1988, vol. 4), H. S. Maxwell and S. G. Knees (1989), A. Huxley et al. (1992, vol. 4), and references therein provide useful additional information on variation in S. prunifolia. M. De Cleene and J. De Ley (1981) noted that S. prunifolia and S. ×vanhouttei (see discussion below) are hosts to infectious hairy-root.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
MD Biodiversity
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CalFlora
Go Botany
IL Wildflowers
LA Plants
MO Plants
