Flora of North America species comparison

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Spiraea douglasii

Douglas' spiraea, Douglas' spirea, Douglas' spirea (ssp. douglasii), hardhack, hardhack spirea, hardhack steeplebush, Menzies' spirea (ssp. menziesii), pink spirea, rose spiraea, rose spirea, spiraea, western hardhack
Habit Shrubs, 10–30 dm.
Stems

erect to ascending, branched.
Leaves

petiole 3–5 mm;

blade bicolorous, elliptic to obovate, 3–10 × 0.5–4 cm, chartaceous, base cuneate, margins serrate distally from middle, venation pinnate craspedodromous, secondary veins prominent, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface lanate to tomentose, glabrous, or pubescent, adaxial glabrous.
Inflorescences

mostly terminal, conic panicles, [5–]8–25 × 3–6[–10] cm height 2–4 times diam. branches glabrous or glabrescent to tomentose.
Pedicels

1–3 mm, glabrous or tomentose.
Flowers

2–4 mm diam.;

hypanthia hemispheric, 1 mm, abaxial surface tomentose, adaxial glabrous;

sepals ovate, 1 mm;

petals light to dark pink, ovate to obovate, 1–2 mm;

staminodes 0;

stamens 25–35, 2–3 times petal length.
Follicles

oblanceoloid, 2.5–3 mm, shiny, glabrous, adaxial suture sometimes ciliate.

Spiraea douglasii
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC [Introduced in Europe]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Spiraea douglasii has been popular in the garden trade and was used to develop a number of hybrids. In North America, the hybrid most likely to be encountered is S. ×billardii Hortus ex K. Koch, because the parental species are both native, although S. salicifolia was widely imported from Europe and thus S. ×pseudosalicifolia Silverside would also likely be encountered.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf abaxial surfaces lanate to tomentose.
var. douglasii
1. Leaf abaxial surfaces glabrous or pubescent
→ 2
2. Pedicels, hypanthia, and sepals tomentulose to sparsely pubescent.
var. menziesii
2. Pedicels, hypanthia, and sepals glabrescent or glabrous.
var. roseata
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 406.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Spiraeeae > Spiraea
Sibling taxa
S. alba, S. cantoniensis, S. chamaedryfolia, S. corymbosa, S. japonica, S. lucida, S. prunifolia, S. salicifolia, S. splendens, S. stevenii, S. thunbergii, S. tomentosa, S. virginiana, S. ×hitchcockii, S. ×pyramidata, S. ×vanhouttei
Subordinate taxa
S. douglasii var. douglasii, S. douglasii var. menziesii, S. douglasii var. roseata
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 172. (1832)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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