Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Willowleaf Meadowsweet - Spiraea salicifolia   L.
Members of Rosaceae:
Members of Spiraea with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Rosales » Family Rosaceae
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AuthorL.
DistributionMountains only. Verified collections from only 3 counties: Ashe (NCU), Clay (GH), and Watauga (many herbaria). Other collections from Alleghany, Avery, Cherokee, Clay, Macon, Mecklenburg, and Transylvania counties appear to be either of cultivated plants correctly identified, or belong to S. alba/latifolia. Not a single specimen label at SERNEC mentions the color of the corollas! However, the Watauga collection (many herbaria) clearly shows that the corollas all dried dark, not pale. See Taxonomic Comments.

Native of Eurasia; in N.A. VT to southern Ont., south to GA and MS.
AbundanceVery rare, apparently. Collectors need to state clearly the flower color and whether plants are escapes or cultivars.
HabitatRoadside ditchbank, long-abandoned homesite area.
PhenologyFlowering June-August.
IdentificationThe main distinction between this species and the native species pair S. alba/latifolia is the bright rose-pink flower color (vs. white in those, sometimes pallid pinkish). See Weakley (1968) for other characters.
Taxonomic CommentsUnfortunately, it appears that older botanists (pre-1950 or so) often used the name salicifolia to encompass our native montane species (now alba or latifolia). Specimens in herbaria need to be checked and have updated nomenclature -- obviously, flower color makes a huge difference between a non-native (pink) vs. native ones (white), both of which are relatively scarce!

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Global RankGNR
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