Spiraea myrtilloides Rehd.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Spiraea myrtilloides' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/spiraea/spiraea-myrtilloides/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Genus

Synonyms

  • S. virgata Franch., not Raf.

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glaucous
Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
type specimen
A herbarium specimen cited in a taxonomic account to define a particular species or other taxon.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Spiraea myrtilloides' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/spiraea/spiraea-myrtilloides/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

A deciduous shrub 4 to 8 ft high, with angular downy shoots, becoming glabrous and dark coloured the second year. Leaves oval, mostly rounded at the apex, broadly tapered at the base, entire, or obscurely toothed towards the apex, 14 to 58 in. long, about half as much wide, glabrous on both surfaces, glaucous beneath; stalk 120 in. long. Flowers white, scarcely 14 in. wide, produced in early June in rounded clusters 12 to 1 in. wide at the end of short leafy shoots springing from the growths of the previous year; flower-stalks downy. Calyx glabrous except near the flower-stalk, its lobes triangular. Petals roundish obovate. Ovary glabrous.

Native of western and central China; described by Franchet under the illegitimate name S. virgata from specimens collected by Delavay in Yunnan. It was introduced to the Arnold Arboretum in 1908 from W. Szechwan by Wilson, who also collected the type specimen of S. myrtilloides, but probably did not reach this country until some years later, when Forrest sent seeds from Yunnan.

S. myrtilloides has no outstanding qualities as a garden plant and is not in general cultivation. It appears to be nearest in most characters to S. alpina and S. media.