''Spiraea japonica'', the Japanese meadowsweet or Japanese spiraea, is a

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...

. Synonyms for the species name are ''Spiraea bumalda'' Burv. and ''Spiraea japonica'' var. ''alpina'' Maxim.

Description

''Spiraea japonica'' is one of several ''

Spiraea ''Spiraea'' , sometimes spelled spirea in common names, and commonly known as meadowsweets or steeplebushes, is a genus of about 80 to 100 species

'' shrubs with alternate, simple leaves, on wiry, freely branching, erect stems. The stems are brown to reddish-brown, round in cross-section and sometimes hairy. The shrub reaches 1.2 m to almost 2 m in height and about the same in width. The

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

leaves are generally an ovate shape about 2.5 cm to 7.5 cm long, have toothed margins, and alternate along the stem. Clusters of rosy-pink flowers are found at the tips of the branches. The seeds measure about 2.5 mm in length and are found in small lustrous capsules. It is naturally variable in form and there are many varieties of it in the horticulture trade. So far, nine varieties have been described within the species.

Distribution

''Spiraea japonica'' is a deciduous, perennial shrub native to Japan, China, and Korea. Southwest China is the center for biodiversity of the species. It is naturalized throughout much of the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest areas of the United States, and parts of Canada.

Habitat

A common habitat for ''S. japonica'' in general seems to be in riparian areas, bogs, or other wetland habitats. It is found growing along streams, rivers, forest edges, roadsides, successional fields, and power line right-of-ways. It prefers full sun, but can tolerate partial shade. It prefers much water during the growing season; however, it cannot tolerate saturated soils for extended periods of time. It prefers a rich, moist loam, but it can grow in a wide variety of soils, including those on the alkaline side.

Uses

''Spiraea japonica'' was introduced in North America as an ornamental landscape plant and first cultivated in the northeastern states around 1870. Numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a type of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and when Plant propagation, propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and st ...

have been selected for garden use. The tall forms may be grown as hedges, low screens, or foundation shrubs. The low-growing forms can be used as

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as t ...

or in borders. In the UK, the following cultivars have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

:- *'Candlelight' *'Dart's Red' * = ‘Lisp’ * = ‘Walbuma’ *'Nana' ''S. japonica'' has been used as traditional medicine by native people, and extracts from the plants were found to be bioactive.

References

External links

Species Profile - Japanese Spiraea (''Spiraea japonica'')
National Invasive Species Information Center,

United States National Agricultural Library The United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a national library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture. Located ...

. Lists general information and resources for Japanese Spiraea. {{Taxonbar, from=Q158201 japonica