Index / Search / Spiraea tomentosa
§1 Plant
Spiraea tomentosa L.
vernacular steeplebush — species · Rosaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Rosaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Spiraea
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 482 counties across 26 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Medium
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- Medium
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- Low
- CaCO₃
- Medium
- Hedging
- Medium
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -33 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 110 min.
- Precipitation
- 30–60 in/yr
- pH range
- 4.5–7
- Root depth
- 14 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 4 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 4 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Moderate
- Flower colour
- Purple
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Seed abundance
- Medium
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- Moderate
- Stratify
- Yes
- Seeds / lb
- 1,100,000
- Propagation
- seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Browse palatability
- Low
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 482 counties across 26 states/territories.
Arkansas view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 9 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 24 N ▾
- Cass 18017
- Clark 18019
- Daviess 18027
- Dubois 18037
- Elkhart 18039
- Franklin 18047
- Fulton 18049
- Howard 18067
- Jackson 18071
- Jasper 18073
- Jefferson 18077
- Kosciusko 18085
- Lagrange 18087
- Lake 18089
- LaPorte 18091
- Marshall 18099
- Newton 18111
- Noble 18113
- Porter 18127
- Pulaski 18131
- St. Joseph 18141
- Starke 18149
- Steuben 18151
- White 18181
Kentucky view state ↗ 33 N ▾
- Adair 21001
- Barren 21009
- Bath 21011
- Bell 21013
- Calloway 21035
- Campbell 21037
- Casey 21045
- Clark 21049
- Clinton 21053
- Edmonson 21061
- Fleming 21069
- Fulton 21075
- Hardin 21093
- Hickman 21105
- Jackson 21109
- Jefferson 21111
- Knox 21121
- Laurel 21125
- Letcher 21133
- Madison 21151
- Marshall 21157
- McCreary 21147
- Metcalfe 21169
- Montgomery 21173
- Powell 21197
- Pulaski 21199
- Robertson 21201
- Rockcastle 21203
- Rowan 21205
- Todd 21219
- Warren 21227
- Washington 21229
- Whitley 21235
Louisiana view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 31 N ▾
- Alger 26003
- Allegan 26005
- Barry 26015
- Berrien 26021
- Calhoun 26025
- Cass 26027
- Cheboygan 26031
- Clare 26035
- Clinton 26037
- Delta 26041
- Ingham 26065
- Ionia 26067
- Jackson 26075
- Kalamazoo 26077
- Kent 26081
- Lake 26085
- Livingston 26093
- Midland 26111
- Monroe 26115
- Muskegon 26121
- Newaygo 26123
- Oakland 26125
- Oceana 26127
- Ottawa 26139
- Saginaw 26145
- Schoolcraft 26153
- St. Clair 26147
- St. Joseph 26149
- Van Buren 26159
- Washtenaw 26161
- Wayne 26163
Minnesota view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 1 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 19 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 39 N ▾
- Albany 36001
- Bronx 36005
- Broome 36007
- Chemung 36015
- Chenango 36017
- Clinton 36019
- Columbia 36021
- Delaware 36025
- Dutchess 36027
- Erie 36029
- Essex 36031
- Franklin 36033
- Fulton 36035
- Greene 36039
- Hamilton 36041
- Kings 36047
- Lewis 36049
- Nassau 36059
- Oneida 36065
- Onondaga 36067
- Orange 36071
- Oswego 36075
- Putnam 36079
- Queens 36081
- Rensselaer 36083
- Richmond 36085
- Rockland 36087
- Saratoga 36091
- Schoharie 36095
- St. Lawrence 36089
- Suffolk 36103
- Sullivan 36105
- Tioga 36107
- Ulster 36111
- Warren 36113
- Washington 36115
- Wayne 36117
- Westchester 36119
- Wyoming 36121
North Carolina view state ↗ 37 N ▾
- Alamance 37001
- Alexander 37003
- Alleghany 37005
- Ashe 37009
- Avery 37011
- Beaufort 37013
- Bertie 37015
- Buncombe 37021
- Burke 37023
- Caldwell 37027
- Camden 37029
- Chowan 37041
- Davie 37059
- Edgecombe 37065
- Forsyth 37067
- Gates 37073
- Guilford 37081
- Halifax 37083
- Henderson 37089
- Hertford 37091
- Jackson 37099
- Lee 37105
- Macon 37113
- Martin 37117
- Nash 37127
- Northampton 37131
- Pitt 37147
- Polk 37149
- Sampson 37163
- Surry 37171
- Transylvania 37175
- Tyrrell 37177
- Union 37179
- Washington 37187
- Watauga 37189
- Wilkes 37193
- Yadkin 37197
Ohio view state ↗ 36 N ▾
- Ashland 39005
- Ashtabula 39007
- Carroll 39019
- Clermont 39025
- Clinton 39027
- Columbiana 39029
- Cuyahoga 39035
- Erie 39043
- Fairfield 39045
- Franklin 39049
- Fulton 39051
- Gallia 39053
- Geauga 39055
- Hocking 39073
- Holmes 39075
- Jackson 39079
- Jefferson 39081
- Knox 39083
- Lake 39085
- Lawrence 39087
- Licking 39089
- Lorain 39093
- Lucas 39095
- Mahoning 39099
- Medina 39103
- Meigs 39105
- Perry 39127
- Portage 39133
- Ross 39141
- Scioto 39145
- Stark 39151
- Summit 39153
- Trumbull 39155
- Tuscarawas 39157
- Vinton 39163
- Wayne 39169
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 44 N ▾
- Allegheny 42003
- Armstrong 42005
- Beaver 42007
- Bedford 42009
- Berks 42011
- Blair 42013
- Bradford 42015
- Bucks 42017
- Butler 42019
- Cameron 42023
- Carbon 42025
- Centre 42027
- Chester 42029
- Clearfield 42033
- Clinton 42035
- Columbia 42037
- Crawford 42039
- Dauphin 42043
- Delaware 42045
- Elk 42047
- Erie 42049
- Forest 42053
- Jefferson 42065
- Lackawanna 42069
- Lancaster 42071
- Lawrence 42073
- Lehigh 42077
- Luzerne 42079
- Lycoming 42081
- McKean 42083
- Mercer 42085
- Monroe 42089
- Northampton 42095
- Northumberland 42097
- Philadelphia 42101
- Pike 42103
- Schuylkill 42107
- Sullivan 42113
- Susquehanna 42115
- Venango 42121
- Warren 42123
- Wayne 42127
- Westmoreland 42129
- Wyoming 42131
Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 21 N ▾
- Bledsoe 47007
- Campbell 47013
- Coffee 47031
- Cumberland 47035
- Fentress 47049
- Johnson 47091
- Montgomery 47125
- Morgan 47129
- Overton 47133
- Polk 47139
- Putnam 47141
- Rhea 47143
- Robertson 47147
- Rutherford 47149
- Stewart 47161
- Unicoi 47171
- Van Buren 47175
- Warren 47177
- Washington 47179
- White 47185
- Williamson 47187
Vermont view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 36 N ▾
- Alleghany 51005
- Amelia 51007
- Augusta 51015
- Bland 51021
- Botetourt 51023
- Brunswick 51025
- Caroline 51033
- Carroll 51035
- Chesapeake (city) 51550
- Chesterfield 51041
- Craig 51045
- Dinwiddie 51053
- Essex 51057
- Floyd 51063
- Franklin 51067
- Giles 51071
- Grayson 51077
- Halifax 51083
- Highland 51091
- Isle of Wight 51093
- King and Queen 51097
- Lunenburg 51111
- Mecklenburg 51117
- Northampton 51131
- Patrick 51141
- Prince George 51149
- Pulaski 51155
- Scott 51169
- Southampton 51175
- Spotsylvania 51177
- Suffolk (city) 51800
- Surry 51181
- Sussex 51183
- Washington 51191
- Westmoreland 51193
- Wise 51195
West Virginia view state ↗ 18 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 44 N ▾
- Adams 55001
- Barron 55005
- Brown 55009
- Burnett 55013
- Chippewa 55017
- Clark 55019
- Columbia 55021
- Dane 55025
- Douglas 55031
- Dunn 55033
- Eau Claire 55035
- Forest 55041
- Green Lake 55047
- Iron 55051
- Jackson 55053
- Jefferson 55055
- Kenosha 55059
- La Crosse 55063
- Langlade 55067
- Lincoln 55069
- Marathon 55073
- Marinette 55075
- Marquette 55077
- Menominee 55078
- Monroe 55081
- Oconto 55083
- Oneida 55085
- Outagamie 55087
- Polk 55095
- Portage 55097
- Price 55099
- Richland 55103
- Rock 55105
- Rusk 55107
- Sauk 55111
- Sawyer 55113
- Shawano 55115
- Taylor 55119
- Vilas 55125
- Washburn 55129
- Waukesha 55133
- Waupaca 55135
- Waushara 55137
- Wood 55141
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/SPTO2 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/3026819 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T11:35:19Z