Physocarpus capitatus (Pursh) Greene

TSO logo

Sponsor this page

For information about how you could sponsor this page, see How You Can Help

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Physocarpus capitatus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/physocarpus/physocarpus-capitatus/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Synonyms

  • Spiraea capitata Pursh
  • Neillia capitata (Pursh) Greene

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
corymb
Unbranched inflorescence with lateral flowers the pedicels of which are of different lengths making the inflorescence appear flat-topped.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Physocarpus capitatus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/physocarpus/physocarpus-capitatus/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

A deciduous shrub 6 to 10 ft high (in the wild over 20 ft). Leaves three-lobed, broadly ovate, 2 to 4 in. long, doubly toothed, downy beneath. Flowers white, produced in a corymb, each flower on a downy stalk about 12 in. long; calyx very downy. Fruits glabrous or nearly so, composed of three to five inflated pods 13 in. long, containing usually two obliquely pear-shaped seeds.

Native of western N. America from British Columbia to California, where it is said to have stems often more than 20 ft long interlaced with willow branches, and forming impenetrable thickets on the banks of streams (Greene). It is really a western form of P. opulifolius, from which it differs chiefly in the more downy leaves and in the pear-shaped seeds. Introduced in 1827.