Bridewort
Scientific name: Spiraea salicifolia L.
Diagnostic features
Strongly suckering.
Stems ± erect, to 2m.
Leaves 4-8cm, elliptic-oblong to lanceolate, mostly widest below mid-way, sharply serrate except at extreme proximal end, glabrous.
Panicle ± cylindrical, with short usually pubescent branches.
Petals pink, rarely white.
Stamens usually distinctly longer than petals.
Pollen more than 90 per cent fertile.
Chromosome number: (2n=36).
Habitat
Introduced-naturalized; formerly much grown, naturalized in hedges and rough ground.
Distribution
Throughout British Isles but over-recorded and now very rare or extinct; Central Europe.
This species is keyed out on Page 2337 in the Text Key.
Hybrids
- See Spiraea rosalba(x) Dippel (= Spiraea salicifolia x Spiraea alba).
- See Spiraea pseudosalicifolia(x) Silverside (= Spiraea salicifolia x Spiraea douglasii). |
