| SOURCE:
The following information on this species is taken, in part, from the Plant
Conservation Alliance, Alien Plant Working Group, Weeds Gone Wild website at
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/factmain.htm. Modifications include
additional pictures (from www.invasives.org)
and resource information. Check the website links for future updates. The last
update for this fact sheet is October 28, 1998. |
NATIVE RANGE:
Japan, Korea and China
DESCRIPTION:
Japanese spiraea, also called Japanese meadowsweet, is a perennial, deciduous
shrub that grows to 4 or sometimes 6 feet in height and about the same in
width. It has slender erect stems that are brown to reddish-brown, round in
cross-section and sometimes hairy. The leaves are generally egg-shaped, 1-3
inches long, have toothed margins and alternate along the stem. Clusters of
attractive, rosy-pink flowers are borne at the tips of branches. Seeds,
measuring about 1/10 inch in length, are contained in small lustrous capsules.
Japanese spiraea is naturally variable in form and there are many varieties of
it in the horticultural trade.
 |
Photo: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Resource Management
Archives, National Park Service,
www.forestryimages.org
|
ECOLOGICAL
THREAT: Japanese spiraea can rapidly take over disturbed areas. Growing populations creep
into meadows, forest openings, and other sites. Once established, spiraea grows
rapidly and forms dense stands that outcompete much of the existing native
herbs and shrubs. Seeds of Japanese spiraea last for many years in the soil,
making its control and the restoration of native vegetation especially
difficult.
DISTRIBUTION
IN THE UNITED STATES:
Japanese spiraea is now naturalized throughout much of the Northeast, Southeast
and Midwest.
HABITAT IN
THE UNITED STATES:
Japanese spiraea is adapted to disturbed areas, tolerates a wide range of soil
conditions and grows in full sun to partial shade. It is commonly found growing
along streams and rivers, forest edges, roadsides, and in successional fields
and power line right-of-ways.
BACKGROUND:
Japanese spiraea was introduced into the United States as an ornamental
landscape plant and first cultivated in the northeastern states around 1870.
BIOLOGY &
SPREAD:
A single Japanese spiraea plant produces hundreds of small seeds that are
naturally dispersed by water and deposited along stream banks. Seeds may also
be carried in fill dirt and establish new populations in the highly disturbed
soil of construction sites.
SUGGESTED
ALTERNATIVE PLANTS:
Some suitable native alternatives for Japanese spiraea include shrubs like
sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina), arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum),
Summersweet clethra (Clethra alnifolia),Virginia sweetspire (Itea
virginica), silky dogwood (Cornus amomum), inkberry (Ilex glabra),
pinxterbloom azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides), and sweetbay
magnolia (Magnolia virginica). You may wish to contact the native plant
society in your state for more assistance.
AUTHORS:
Tom Remaley, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, TN.
EDITOR: Jil M.
Swearingen, National Park Service, Washington, DC.
For more information
on Japanese spiraea, contact:
Kris Johnson, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, TN Mid-Atlantic
Exotic Pest Plant Council, Inc., http://www.ma-eppc.org
National Invasive Species Information Center,
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov
Plant Conservation Alliance, Alien Plant Working Group, Weeds Gone Wild,
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/factmain.htm
Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas,
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/
Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council; Invasive Plant Manual,
http://www.se-eppc.org/manual/
The Bugwood Network, MA-EPPC Plant List,
http://www.invasive.org/maweeds.cfm
USDA - NRCS PLANTS Database, http://plants.usda.gov/
REFERENCES:
Carter, J. 1993. Spiraea. The Iowa Review 23(1):57-61.
Chamberlain, S. 1983. Hedges, screens and espaliers - how to select, grow and
enjoy. Tucson, AZ: HP Books, 163.
Dirr, M.A. 1986. Spiraeas of the japonica group are summer garden aristocrats.
American Nurseryman 163:54-56.
Dirr, M.A. 1990. Manual of woody landscape plants: their identification,
ornamental characteristics, culture, propagation and uses. Stipes Publishing
Co. Pp. 803-805.
Gleason, H.A., A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern
United States and adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. The New York Botanical Garden, 910 .
Gorbunov, V.D., V.I. Sheichenko, A.I. Ban'kovskii. 1976. A new alkaloid from
Spiraea japonica. Chemical Natural Compound 12(1):119-120.
Komazaki, S. 1983. Overwintering of the spiraea aphid, Aphis citricola Van der
Goot (Homoptera: Aphididae) on citrus and spiraea plants. Applied Entomology
Zoology 18(3): 301-307.
Marczynski, S., L.S. Jankiewicz. 1978. The effect of controlled temperature and
humidity on the effectiveness of chemical defoliation of Ligustrum vulgare L.
and Spiraea bumalda Burv. Shrubs. Acta Agrobotany 31(½):181-193.
Marczynski, S. 1977. The chemical defoliation to aid transplantation of
Ligustrum vulgare L. and Spiraea X arguta Zab. Shrubs in nursery. Acta
Agrobotany 30(1):103-119.
Ogle, D.W. 1991. Spiraea virginiana Britton: I. Delineation and distribution.
Castanea 56(4):287-296.
Ogle, D.W. 1991. Spiraea virginiana Britton: II. Ecology and species biology.
Castanea 56(4):297-303.
Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of vascular flora of the
Carolinas. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1183.
Rehder, A. 1986. Manual of cultivated trees and shrubs. Portland, OR:
Dioscorides Press, 996.
Swanson, R.E. 1994. A field guide to the trees and shrubs of the southern
Appalachians. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 399.
Wiesner, M.B. 1994. Virginia spiraea. American Horticulturist 73(August 1994):
9.
Williamson, M.A.; Bernard, E.C. 1988. Life cycle of a new species of
Blumeriella (Ascomycotina: Dermateaceae), a leaf-spot pathogen of Spiraea.
Canadian Journal of Botany 66(10): 2048-2054.
Plant Conservation Alliance,
Alien Plant Working Group.
Management
and Control Information
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