Habitat

• native to Formosa, Korea, and China
• hardy to zone 4

Habit and Form

• a deciduous shrub
• 4' to 9' tall
• 6' to 8' wide
• open, loose form
• leggy
• medium texture
• moderate growth rate

Summer Foliage

• alternate leaf arrangement
• simple, deciduous leaves
• elliptic leaf shape
• 1" to 2" long
• finely serrated margins
• pubescent
• dark green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

• not ornamentally important
• yellow to purple

Flowers

• double, white flowers
• 0.33" across
• clustered in groups of 3 to 6
• showy

Fruit

• dry, brown follicles
• hold through winter
• not ornamentally significant

Bark

• zigzag stem pattern
• shiny brown
• glabrous

Culture

• full sun to light shade
• prefers well-drained soil
• transplant from container for best results
• soil tolerant
• extremely durable shrub

Landscape Use

• for showy flowers
• group or mass plantings
• for border
• for foundation plant
• for texture

Liabilities

• suckers
• fireblight
• leaf spot
• powdery mildew

ID Features

• double, white flowers
• leggy habit and open crown
• finely serrated margins
• pubescent leaves
• alternate leaf arrangement

Propagation

• by softwood cuttings
• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

var. simpliciflora (also listed as f. simpliciflora) - A single-flowered variant, this plant is generally not available or widely cultivated.

'Plena' - This is the double-flowered form that is generally the only form of the species available. The descriptive information on this page applies to this cultivar. It is not a good ornamental plant, far inferior to the cultivars of Spiraea nipponica.