Spiraea douglasii ssp. douglasii
Spiraea douglasii var. douglasii
Spiraea douglasii var. menziesii

General:
Low to medium shrub, 0.5-2.5 m tall, from creeping rhizome, often forming thickets; stems erect, much-branched, the slender branchlets usually somewhat woolly, later becoming smooth.

Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, short-stalked, oblong to egg-shaped, 3-10 cm long, coarsely toothed mostly above the middle, dark green and smooth above, paler and woolly-hairy to smooth beneath.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a branched, narrowly conic to cylindric, dense terminal cluster of numerous small flowers, the cluster several times longer than broad, the branches often woolly; corollas deep to pale pink, the petals 5, egg-shaped to round-elliptic, about 2 mm long; calyces fine-hairy to nearly smooth on the outside, 5-lobed, the lobes triangular, bent back, about 1 mm long; ovaries superior; stamens numerous.

Fruits:
Follicles, usually 5, short-beaked, 2-3 mm long, somewhat leathery, smooth except sometimes a few long hairs along the suture, shining; seeds several, spindle-shaped.

Notes:
Two subspecies occur in BC:

1. Leaves greyish-woolly beneath; plants of the coast................... ssp. douglasii

1. Leaves smooth to hairy, but not greyish-woolly beneath; plants from throughout southern two-thirds of BC.................. ssp. menziesii (Hook.) Calder & Taylor

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Flower Colour:
Purple

Blooming Period:
Mid Summer

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Summer to Fall

Source:  The USDA