Spiraea × vanhouttei (Briot) Zab.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Spiraea × vanhouttei' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/spiraea/spiraea-x-vanhouttei/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Spiraea aquilegifolia vanhouttei Briot

Glossary

bloom
Bluish or greyish waxy substance on leaves or fruits.
calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glaucous
Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
hybrid
Plant originating from the cross-fertilisation of genetically distinct individuals (e.g. two species or two subspecies).
reflexed
Folded backwards.
synonym
(syn.) (botanical) An alternative or former name for a taxon usually considered to be invalid (often given in brackets). Synonyms arise when a taxon has been described more than once (the prior name usually being the one accepted as correct) or if an article of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has been contravened requiring the publishing of a new name. Developments in taxonomic thought may be reflected in an increasing list of synonyms as generic or specific concepts change over time.
umbel
Inflorescence in which pedicels all arise from same point on peduncle. May be flat-topped (as in e.g. Umbelliferae) to spherical (as in e.g. Araliaceae). umbellate In form of umbel.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Spiraea × vanhouttei' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/spiraea/spiraea-x-vanhouttei/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

A shrub 6 ft high, with gracefully arching, glabrous brown stems. Leaves rhomboidal or obovate, sometimes distinctly three-lobed, more or less broadly tapering and entire at the base, coarsely toothed on the upper half; 34 to 134 in. long, 12 to 114 in. wide; dark green above, rather glaucous beneath, glabrous on both sides. Flowers white, 13 in. across, produced during June in umbel-like clusters 1 to 2 in. across; calyx-lobes erect.

A hybrid between S. trilobata and S. cantoniensis; raised by Billiard, a nurseryman at Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris, about 1862. At its best it is probably the finest of all the white-flowered spiraeas, except perhaps S. ‘Arguta’; in low-lying situations it is subject to injury by late spring frosts. In more elevated gardens, or where the plant is not forced into premature activity by unseasonable warmth, there is no more desirable shrub, for it is very hardy. Its stems, at first erect, afterwards arching outwards at the top, bear the extraordinarily profuse blossoms on the upper side of the branches. It is one of the spiraeas which should have the older wood thinned out after flowering to allow light and air to enter and help in the development of the younger growths. It is very valuable for forcing early into bloom for indoor decoration, and used to be exhibited in this state at the spring shows under the erroneous name of S. confusa, a synonym of S. media – a less vigorous shrub with longer stamens and the calyx-lobes ultimately reflexed.