Rosaceae

Rosaceae
Rhodotypos scandens – Black jetbead
Black jetbead is not a common
landscape plant, but it thrives under
difficult growing conditions and was
once used as a conservation plant.
It can be used in mass or mixed with
other shrubs.
Jetbead has become invasive in some
locations, especially in the Northeast.
Native to Japan, China and Korea.
The genus name comes from Greek for
“a rose type”.
Rosaceae
Rhodotypos scandens – Black jetbead
Growth habit – Jet bead is a
mounded, loosely branching
shrub that can reach 6 feet
tall and wide.
It can get untidy with age
and can require renewal
pruning.
Rosaceae
Rhodotypos scandens – Black jetbead
Flower – Jetbead produces
solitary flowers with four large
white petals in June after the
foliage emerges.
Rosaceae
Rhodotypos scandens – Black jetbead
Fruit – Fruits are dark, shiny black
drupes usually in groups of four that
persists into winter. The common name
(jetbead) refers to the fruit color.
Rosaceae
Rhodotypos scandens – Black jetbead
Leaf – Opposite, simple and ovate in
shape. The leaf margin is doubly
serrate with prominent leaf veins.
Reddish-yellow autumn color.
Rosaceae
Rhodotypos scandens – Black jetbead
Culture:
Full sun to deep shade.
A very easy to grow plant
that tolerates difficult sites.
Prune to keep compact.
Hardy in zones 8 to 4.
Rosaceae
Rhodotypos scandens – Black jetbead
Culture:
Black jetbead can be a heavy
fruiting plant and it readily
seeds around the garden.
It is considered and exotic
invasive plant in several
Northeastern states.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Japanese spirea are common
landscape shrubs used in
mass or in combinations with
other shrubs or herbaceous
perennials.
It is most often
represented as one of its
many cultivars or hybrids.
It is native to the mountains
of Japan, Korea and China.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Growth habit – This is a
variable group of
shrubs growing wider
than tall.
Depending on the
cultivar, heights can be
from 1 to 5 feet tall.
Two different hybrid Japanese spireas.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Flower – Flowers are shades of white
to rose and produced in flat corymbs.
Flowers from June into August.
Blooms on new wood.
The range of flower colors in Japanese spirea hybrids.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Fruit – Fruits are clusters of
non-showy, star-shaped follicles.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Leaf – Alternate and simple ovate to
oblong leaves have a serrate leaf
margin. Size varies by cultivar.
Autumn color yellow to reddish purple
to red.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Leaf – Leaves from Spiraea
japonica var. alpina are smaller
(usually < 1 inch) and less
elongated than the species.
They tend to be blue-green with
deeper marginal teeth.
Many of the hybrids have
utilized S. japonica var. alpina
and tend to have this leaf form.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Culture:
Full sun to partial shade.
Easily grown and tolerant to
most landscape sites.
Renewal pruning in the spring
can stimulate flowering show.
Hardy in zones 8 to 4.
It has become an invasive
plant in some States.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Culture:
Since plants flower
on new growth, they
can be cut back to
ground level every
few years.
This keeps a tight
growth habit and it
can accentuate
emerging foliage
color and flowering.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Cultivars: There are many yellow leaf forms (too many) in Japanese spirea and
its hybrids. Most are compact growers and the yellow foliage is best
appreciated in the spring before it fades to green by mid to late summer.
Rosaceae
Spiraea japonica – Japanese spirea
Cultivars: ‘Little Princess’ is possibly the most common low growing, green leaf
form of Japanese spirea. It grows under three feet tall and wide and has
pinker flowers than Spiraea japonica var. alpina from which it was selected.
Summer leaf color
Autumn leaf color
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Spiraea xbumalda is a
hybrid between S. japonica
and S. albiflora .
Spiraea xbumalda has been
back crossed to S. japonica
var. alpina to make an array
of cultivars with different
leaf forms, plant heights
and flower colors.
Many of these hybrids are
listed as cultivars under
Japanese spirea.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Flowers – Flowers are pink to purple-red and produced in flat
corymbs that are held above the foliage in late May through June.
Pedicles
Peduncle
Rachis
Bractlets
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Fruit – Similar to Japanese
spirea, Bumald spirea fruit
are clusters of non-showy
five point, star-shaped
follicles.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Leaf – Alternate and simple ovatelanceolate leaves have a doubly,
serrate leaf margin.
Autumn color reddish purple to red.
True bumald spiraea is an unstable
chimera that shows budsports with a
white or yellow variegated leaves.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Culture:
Full sun to partial shade.
Easily grown and tolerant
to most landscape sites.
It benefits from renewal
pruning in the spring.
Hardy in zones 8 to 3.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Uses – Like other low-growing spireas, bumald spirea is better
planted massed together or mixed with other shrubs.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Cultivars:
‘Anthony Waterer’ is an old, but still
popular bumald spirea selection derived
from a branch sport on the original
bumald hybrid.
It has a large, flat-topped
inflorescence with reddish-pink flowers.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Cultivars:
‘Goldflame’ is the standard yellow
foliage form that has bright,
orange-red new foliage. It tends to
fade to green in the summer heat.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Cultivars:
‘Gold Mound’ is a hybrid
between Spiraea japonica
var. alpina and S. xbumalda
‘Goldflame’.
It has a tighter, rounded
form and holds its color
better than ‘Goldflame’ as
the summer progresses.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xbumalda – Bumald spirea
Cultivars:
‘Crispa’ is an interesting
crinkled-leaf form.
Otherwise, it is similar
to ‘Anthony Waterer’ in
habit and culture.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Vanhoutte spirea is an
old standard spirea
resulting from a cross
between S. trilobata and
S. cantoniensis in 1862.
It can be used in a
mixed shrub border for
seasonal interest.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Growth habit – A vaseshaped shrub with
arching branches.
It can reach 10 feet tall
and wide.
Vigorous growth can
sometimes make plants
look unkempt and
periodic pruning is
recommended.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Growth habit – Often
grown as a single plant,
but it is better used in
a mixed shrub planting
where it is not a focal
point in the summer
and fall landscape.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Growth habit – Plants tolerate pruning and can be formed into a hedge.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Flower – Plants bloom on old wood in
April with white flowers in rounded
umbels. Each individual flower has five
petals and yellow-green center. It can
be very showy in flower with the entire
plant covered in white.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Fruit – Fruits are produced at the
shoot-tips and are small, non-showy
follicles.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Leaf – Leaves are simple, alternate and
about 1 inch long. They are thin, bluegreen with irregular teeth and
somewhat lobed. Plants can have yellow
to yellow-orange fall color.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Culture:
Full sun.
Easily grown and tolerant of most
landscape site as long as they are
not too wet.
Blooms on old wood and should be
pruned after flowering.
Hardy in zones 8 to 3.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xvanhouttei – Vanhoutte spirea
Cultivars:
‘Renaissance’ is very
similar to the original
hybrid except it has
better resistance to
foliar diseases.
Rosaceae
Spiraea nipponica – Nippon spirea
Nippon spirea is similar
to Vanhoutte’s spirea
with a neater growth
habit.
It is native to Japan.
Rosaceae
Spiraea nipponica – Nippon spirea
Growth habit – A vaseshaped shrub with
arching branches.
Can reach 7 feet tall
and wide.
Rosaceae
Spiraea nipponica – Nippon spirea
Flower and fruit – Blooms in late
May with white flowers in small
flat umbels.
Fruits are non-showy follicles.
Rosaceae
Spiraea nipponica – Nippon spirea
Leaf – Leaves are simple, oblong,
alternate and <1 inch long.
They are blue-green with
irregular teeth at the tip of the
leaf.
Rosaceae
Spiraea nipponica – Nippon spirea
Culture:
Full sun.
Easily grown and tolerant of
most landscape sites as long
as they are not too wet.
Blooms on last season’s
growth and should be pruned
after flowering.
Hardy in zones 7 to 4.
Rosaceae
Spiraea nipponica – Nippon spirea
Cultivars:
‘Snowmound’ is the
selection of Nippon
spirea most often
available in the
nursery trade.
Rosaceae
Spiraea thunbergii – Thunberg spirea
Thunberg spirea is an
arching, shrub effective
in mass or mixed with
other shrubs.
Plants are spectacular in
flower.
Native to Japan and
China.
The species name is for
Carl Thunberg an 18th
Century plant explorer
and an associate of
Linnaeus from Sweden.
Rosaceae
Spiraea thunbergii – Thunberg spirea
Growth habit – It is a
loose, spreading shrub
with arching branches.
Plants can reach 5 feet
tall and wide, but is
usually wider than tall.
Plants have a fine texture
and mixes well with other
shrubs.
Rosaceae
Spiraea thunbergii – Thunberg spirea
Flower – Many small white flowers with
five petals in small umbels are packed
densely together to cover the entire
stem. It is one of the earliest spireas
to flower appearing in early April.
Rosaceae
Spiraea thunbergii – Thunberg spirea
Fruit – Fruits are typical
spirea five segment follicles.
Rosaceae
Spiraea thunbergii – Thunberg spirea
Leaf – Narrow, linear to lanceolate
leaves with a serrated leaf margin
are about 1 inch long.
Leaf color is light green.
Reddish yellow autumn color.
Rosaceae
Spiraea thunbergii – Thunberg spirea
Culture:
Full sun.
Grows well in most
landscape sites.
Prune after flowering
to keep plants in shape.
Rosaceae
Spiraea thunbergii – Thunberg spirea
Cultivars:
‘Ogon’ has become a
popular cultivar
because it has the same
profuse flowering of
the species, but also
has yellow foliage in the
spring.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xarguta – Garland spirea
Related species:
The garland spirea is a
cross between S. thunbergii
and S. xmultiflora
introduced in 1884.
It is similar to Thunberg
spirea in habit, leaf and
flower, but is more compact
and extremely floriferous.
Hardy in zones 8 to 4.
Rosaceae
Spiraea xcinerea – Grefsheim spirea
Related species:
Spiraea xcinerea is a cross
between S. cana and
S. hypericifolia introduced in
1884 as the cultivar ‘Grefsheim’.
It is similar to Thunberg spirea
and garland spirea in habit and
flower, but blooms about a week
earlier.
Hardy in zones 7 to 4.
Rosaceae
Spiraea prunifolia – Bridalwreath spirea
Related species:
There is a love – hate
relationship with bridalwreath
spirea. It is an old time
favorite, but has not been
popular with garden experts
in recent years because plants
are attractive only when in
bloom.
If managed properly, it can be
an effective seasonal plant
with very good early spring
flowering characteristics.
Native to Eastern Asia and
hardy in zones 8 to 4.
Rosaceae
Spiraea prunifolia – Bridalwreath spirea
Bridalwreath spirea is usually only seen as
the cultivar ‘Plena’, which produces an
attractive double flower in April before
the foliage emerges.
Because it is double, it does not set seed
and flowers last a long time on the shrub.
Rosaceae
Spiraea prunifolia – Bridalwreath spirea
Bridalwreath spirea is also one of the
better spirea species for fall color
producing orange to bronze leaf color.
Rosaceae
Spiraea cantoniensis – Reeves spirea
Related species:
The other double flowering
commercially available spirea is
S. cantoniensis ‘Flore Pleno’.
The double flowering form has
become more widely available
because it shows good heat
tolerance for southern growing
areas.
The single flowering species is
native to Japan and China, but
seldom grown.
It is one of the parents for
Spiraea xvanhouttii.
Hardy in zones 9 to 5.
Rosaceae
Spiraea betulifolia var. aemiliana – Birchleaf spirea
Related species:
Birchleaf spirea is a Japanese
native that has become more
available in the U.S. nursery
trade usually as the cultivar ‘Tor’.
It is a small, compact grower to 3
feet tall. Typical white spirea
flowers occur in spring, but the
plants are most noticeable during
fall because of the vivid yellow to
red fall color.
Hardy in zones 6 to 4.
Rosaceae
Sobaria sorbifolia – Ural falsespirea
Related species:
Ural falsespirea is a multistemmed shrub growing to
about 8 feet tall that
spreads by underground
stolons.
It is a nice plant for a mass
planting where you want a
plant to spread.
Its overall texture is
coarse and it is not for a
small landscape.
It is an easy to grow,
adaptable plant hardy in
zones 7 to 2.
Rosaceae
Sobaria sorbifolia – Ural falsespirea
Ural falsespirea has a pinnately
compound leaf and produces
white flowers in a terminal
panicle in late June on new wood.
Rosaceae
Sobaria sorbifolia – Ural falsespirea
The cultivar ‘Sem’ is a
compact growing form to
about 3 feet tall.
It is probably a hybrid
between S. sorbifolia and
S. tomentosa.
New growth has pinkish
leaves and the flowers are
produced in upright panicles.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Firethorn is one of the
showiest shrubs for fruit
display.
It is a shrub suitable for
hedging or a mixed shrub
border.
It is often used as
espaliers against walls.
Native to southern Europe.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Growth habit – Firethorn is a semi-evergreen shrub that produces
thorny branches that can become unkempt with age unless pruned.
Plants can reach 15 feet tall, but it is usually pruned to a smaller size.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Flowers – Flowers are white with
five petals in dense corymbs that
cover the plant in the spring.
Flower fragrance is unpleasant.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Fruit – Fruits are attractive small
orange to red pomes that persist into
the winter.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Leaf – Small, simple leaves are elliptic
in shape with a lightly scalloped leaf
margin. Can be evergreen in southern
areas or semi-evergreen in the North.
Thorns are produced at the shoot apex
and in the leaf axils.
Thorn
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Culture:
Full sun.
Performs in most landscape
sites as long as it is welldrained.
Tolerates pruning well.
Hardy to zones 9 to 6 (5), but
varies by cultivar. Care should
be taken to select winter hardy
cultivars.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Culture:
Susceptible to lacebug, leaf
and fruit scab, and fireblight.
Leaf damage from lacebug.
Fruit scab
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Uses:
Firethorn is often used as
espaliers against walls.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Uses: Planting firethorns against the background of a
wall shows off the fruit display.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Cultivars:
‘Lalandei’ is a common cultivar grown in
colder climates (zone 5). It is a
vigorous growing plant to 15 feet tall.
The fruit is orange-red, but it is very
susceptible to scab that often reduces
the quality of the fruit display.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha coccinea – Scarlet firethorn
Cultivars:
‘Kasan’ is also a hardy
cultivar to zone 5.
It produces orange-red
fruit and has a spreading
habit to 10 feet tall. It is
scab susceptible.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha hybrids – Hybrid firethorn
Hybrids: There are many hybrid selections in Pyracantha. Most are winter hardy
only to zones 7 and 6. Hybrid parents include P. coccinea, P. atalantioides,
P. angustifolia, P. crenulata, P. fortuneana, and P. koidzumii . They are most often
selected for fruit color and growth habit. Fruit color can be orange, red or yellow.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha crenato-serrata – Chinese firethorn
Related species:
Chinese firethorn is native to
western China but is only winter
hardy to zone 6.
It produces an excellent red
berry display.
‘Cherri Berri’ produces large red
fruit and is seen more often
than the species in the U.S.
Rosaceae
Pyracantha koidzumii – Formosa firethorn
Related species:
Formosa firethorn is the most
common firethorn species
grown in southern U.S. areas.
It is hardy only to zone 8.
It is native to Japan and can
grow 10 to 12 feet tall.
It works very well as an
ornamental espalier.