Spiraea betulifolia var. lucida
Birchleaf Spirea

Family: Rosaceae (Rose family)

Photo taken at Leavenworth Ski Hill, openly wooded hillside in partial shade

Flowers:

flowers in more or less flat-topped corymbs, complete, perigynous; 5 petals, white; calyx 5 lobed; 25 to 50 stamens

Leaves:

deciduous, toothed

Plant:

woody perennial, usually 20 to 45 cm tall; glabrous or merely ciliolate on leaves and bracts. Infusion of plant taken for abdominal pains by the Okanagan-Colville, Shuswap, and Thompson.

Habitat:

wet places to open hillsides, from near sea level to 10,000 feet

Distribution of species:

southern British Columbia to north central Oregon in the east Cascades, east to Saskatchewan, south Dakota, Wyoming, and in Asia

Distribution of genus:

more or less 50 species: northern temperate regions