''Spiraea thunbergii'' (珍珠绣线菊), Thunberg spiraea or Thunberg's meadowsweet, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

in the rose

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to East China and Japan, and widely cultivated elsewhere.

Names

Other common names include baby's breath spirea. The Japanese common name is ''yuki-yanagi''. This is one of several plants whose Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

''thunbergii'' honours the Swedish botanist and plant collector

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala U ...

(1743-1828).

Description

Growing to tall and broad, ''Spiraea thunbergii'' is a small, long-lived

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...

with thin, flexible stems. The flowers are white, borne in abundance in spring and early summer. The alternate, simple, almost linear

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

are semi-

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, ...

Chemistry

This plant produces phytotoxic cis-cinnamoyl

glucoside A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is hydrolysed by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes. The name was ...

s and cis-cinnamic acid. The plant-growth inhibition characteristics can be used against diverse species as lettuce (''Lactuca sativa''), pigweed (''Amaranthus retroflexus''), red clover (''Trifolium pratense''), timothy (''Phleum pratense''), and bok choy (''Brassica rapa'' var ''chinensis''). The characteristics of these natural chemicals indicate a potential role of cis-cinnamic acid and its glucosides as

allelochemicals Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms. These biochemicals are known as allelochemicals and can have ben ...

(chemicals, released from plants, that cause an interaction between plants and other living organisms) for use as plant growth regulators and weed suppression in agricultural fields and in natural ecosystems.

Cultivation

''Spiraea thunbergii'' is grown as an ornamental plant in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

regions. It is hardy and easy to grow in a sunny mixed border. In the UK it has 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 (Nor ...

’s

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 ...

Hybrid

This species forms an interspecific hybrid with ''Spiraea japonica'' L. fil.Horticultural Research (Japan)(2006): Floral Characteristics of Interspecific Hybrids between Spiraea thunbergii Sieb. ex Blume. and S. japonica L. fil.
/ref> In the horticultural trade one can obtain several varieties of ''Spiraea thunbergii'', such as 'Mt Fuji' (white flowers), 'Ogon' (bright yellow-green leaves and white flowers), 'Mellow yellow' and 'Fugino pink'

Names

Description

Chemistry

Cultivation

Hybrid

Gallery

References

External links