Flora of North America species comparison

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Spiraea douglasii

Spiraea douglasii var. menziesii

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
Photo is of parent taxon

Menzies' pink spirea, Menzies' spiraea, Menzies' spirea, pink spirea
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.

abaxial surfaces glabrous or pubescent.
Inflorescence(s)

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

branches tomentulose.
Pedicels

1–3 mm, glabrous or tomentose.

tomentulose to sparsely pubescent.
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.

hypanthia and sepals tomentulose to sparsely pubescent.
Follicles

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

Spiraea douglasii

Spiraea douglasii var. menziesii
Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug; fruiting Jul–Nov.
Habitat Stream banks, flood plains, moist open forests, woodland margins, wet meadows and fields, wetlands, roadside ditches
Elevation 0–2500 m (0–8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC [Introduced in Europe]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC [Introduced in Europe]
[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.)

H. J. Scoggan (1978–1979, part 3) identified two forms of var. menziesii based upon petal color: forma menziesii (Hooker) Voss (pink to deep rose) and forma pseudosalicifolia B. Boivin (white). These appear to be local forms that may be stable; petal color can be variable within varieties and species in Spiraea and the stability of these forms, within the variety and species as a whole, has not been fully assessed. A. R. Kruckeberg (1967) tested two strains of var. menziesii and found that one showed adaptation to soils derived from ultramafic rocks (serpentinite, peridotite, dunite) and one did not. Although not discussed by Kruckeberg, variation of flower color within the variety may be correlated with substrate.

(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. FNA vol. 9, p. 407.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Spiraeeae > Spiraea Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Spiraeeae > Spiraea > Spiraea douglasii
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
S. douglasii var. douglasii, S. douglasii var. roseata
Subordinate taxa
S. douglasii var. douglasii, S. douglasii var. menziesii, S. douglasii var. roseata
Synonyms S. menziesii, S. douglasii subsp. menziesii, S. subvillosa
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 172. (1832) (Hooker) C. Presl: Abh. Königl. Böhm. Ges. Wiss., ser. 5, 6: 555. (1851)
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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