STEEPLEBUSH
Spiraea Douglasii
Rose Family [Rosaceae] 
|
|
Rose Family [Rosaceae]
|
|
flower
morph
petals
type
type
stem
_2008_08_14_Adlington_canal_Heapey_560p1.jpg)
| 14th Aug 2008, Leeds & L/pool canal, Adlington. | Photo: © RWD |
| A shrub up to 2m tall. |
_2010_07_08_EastLancsRd_057p6.jpg)
| 8th Aug 2010, Moorside, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
| Mid-green leaves on linear woody branches with leaves in opposite pairs with flowers in panicles at the end. |
_2008_08_14_Adlington_canal_Heapey_561p2.jpg)
| 14th Aug 2008, Leeds & L/pool canal, Adlington. | Photo: © RWD |
| Clustered reddish-pint flowers in branched panicles which go brown after flowering. |
_2010_07_08_EastLancsRd_050p9.jpg)
| 8th Aug 2010, Moorside, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
| Flowers covered in a fuzzy mass of reddish-pink petals and reddish pink stamens with reddish-pink anthers. |
_2010_07_08_EastLancsRd_052p1.jpg)
| 8th Aug 2010, Moorside, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
| Partially opened flowers bell-shaped with prominent stamens. |
_2010_07_08_EastLancsRd_055p6.jpg)
| 8th Aug 2010, Moorside, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
| Flowers reminiscent of those on Meadowsweet (which is an alternative name for this plant in some parts of the World, but not in the UK). |
_2010_07_08_EastLancsRd_056p7.jpg)
| 8th Aug 2010, Moorside, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
| Leaves mid-green oval leaves with irregular shallow teeth only beyond the middle of the leaf. |
_2010_07_08_EastLancsRd_047p7.jpg)
| 8th Aug 2010, Moorside, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
| Leaves reddish at the periphery, and covered in extremely short down. |
_2010_07_08_EastLancsRd_048p8.jpg)
| 8th Aug 2010, Moorside, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
the rear of the leaves is silvery green with longer hairs, this fact distinguishing the plant from a great many other similar Brideworts. |
|
Easily confused with : two other subspecies of Steeplebrush: Spiraea douglasii subsp. douglasii and Spiraea douglasii subsp. menziesii, and indeed, the ones shown may be either of the three (although they are more likely to be either/both of the first two).
Not to be confused with :
Some similarities to : A popular garden shrub. It seems the Americans get a little confused, for they call Spiraea douglasii 'Hardhack' or 'Hardhack Steeplebrush', but according to the BSBI 'Hardhack' is actually a different variety: Spiraea tomentosa. Related by the BSBI website are 17 different species of Spiraea growing wild in the UK, amongst them the well-known garden plant Spiraea japonica which has the flowers in umbels rather than in panicles as do the Brideworts. ANY TEXT GOES HERE |
 Spiraea |
|
Rose Family [Rosaceae]
|
