''Spiraea tomentosa'', commonly known as steeplebush, meadowsweet, or hardhack, or eastern hardhack, is a flowering plant native to the eastern United States and Canada.

Description

''Spiraea tomentosa'' grows to up to four feet high and prefers moist to wet soil and full sun. It blooms in summer. Each tiny, pink flower is about 1/16 of an inch wide and arranged in narrow, pyramid-shaped flowerheads that grow up to eight inches long. The flowers are followed by small, dry, brown fruit. The specific epithet ''tomentosa'' refers to the undersides of the leaves and the stems, which are covered in a dense white-woolly tomentum. It has similar characteristics to ''

Spiraea douglasii ''Spiraea douglasii'' is a species of flowering plant in the rose family native to western North America. Common names include hardhack, hardhack steeplebush, Douglas' spirea, douglasspirea, steeplebush, and rose spirea. Description ''Spiraea do ...

''.

Ecology

The plant bug '' Plagiognathus fuscosus'' breeds on steeplebush. Many bees visit the flowers: ''

Apis mellifera The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for "bee", and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying", ...

'' (non-native), ''

Bombus griseocollis ''Bombus griseocollis'' is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the brown-belted bumblebee.NatureServe. 2015''Bombus griseocollis''.NatureServe Explorer Version 7.1. Accessed 6 March 2016. It is native to much of the United States except for ...

'', '' Bombus impatiens'', ''

Lasioglossum atwoodi The sweat bee genus ''Lasioglossum'' is the largest of all bee genera, containing over 1700 species in numerous subgenera worldwide.Gibbs, J., et al. (2012)Phylogeny of halictine bees supports a shared origin of eusociality for ''Halictus'' and ...

'', ''

Lasioglossum hitchensi The sweat bee genus ''Lasioglossum'' is the largest of all bee genera, containing over 1700 species in numerous subgenera worldwide.Gibbs, J., et al. (2012)Phylogeny of halictine bees supports a shared origin of eusociality for ''Halictus'' and ...

'', and ''

Hylaeus mesillae ''Hylaeus mesillae'' is a species of hymenopteran in the family Colletidae The Colletidae are a family of bees, and are often referred to collectively as plasterer bees or polyester bees, due to the method of smoothing the walls of their nest ...

''.

Uses

Steeplebush is noted for its astringent properties, which cause it to be used medicinally. The

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

for this plant is listed as zones 4 to 8.

References

* * * * {{taxonbar, from=Q159771 tomentosa Flora of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus