Japanese Spiraea
Spiraea japonica
Found in roadsides, woodland borders, old home-sites, bogs, alluvial forests; invasive. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
—
Not native
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 4–6 feet
- Spread
- 4–7 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to August
- Fruiting season
- July to August
JFMAMJJASOND
Recorded in 5 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 3
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
40CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Spiraea
- Acronicta noctivagaNight-Wandering Dagger, Burglar Dagger
- Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Archips argyrospilaFruit-Tree Leafroller Moth
- Archips purpuranaOmnivorous Leafroller Moth
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Biston betulariaSalt-and-Pepper Geometer, Cleft-Headed Looper
- Cecrita guttivittaMaple Prominent, Saddled Prominent
- Cenopis reticulatanaReticulated Fruitworm Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
Show all 40
- Crocigrapha normaniNorman's Quaker
- Euchlaena irrariaLeast-Marked Euchlaena
- Euchlaena johnsonariaJohnson's Euchlaena
- Euchlaena marginariaOchre Euchlaena
- Euchlaena serrataThe Saw-Wing
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Glena cognatariaBlueberry Gray
- Harrisimemna trisignataHarris's Three-Spot
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Melanolophia canadariaCanadian Melanolphia, Variable Redmarked Looper
- Metarranthis duariaRuddy Metarranthis
- Metarranthis obfirmariaYellow-Washed Metarranthis
- Morrisonia evictaBicolored Woodgrain
- Olethreutes permundanaRaspberry Leafroller
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Palthis angulalisDark-Spotted Palthis
- Paonias excaecataBlinded Sphinx, Blind Eyed Sphinx
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Pero morrisonariaMorrison's Pero
- Phlogophora periculosaBrown Angle Shades
- Probole amicariaFriendly Probole
- Prochoerodes lineolaLarge Maple Spanworm Moth
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Rheumaptera prunivorataFerguson's Scallop Shell, Cherry Scallop Shell
- Schizura ipomaeaeMorning-Glory Prominent, Checkered-Fringe Prominent
- Smerinthus jamaicensisTwin-Spotted Sphinx
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Xanthotype urticariaFalse Crocus Geometer
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Spiraea
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Soil pH
- Alkaline
- Flower color
- Pink
- Fruit begins
- July
- Fruit ends
- August
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “4–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “pink” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil pH · “Alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “4–7 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Japanese Meadowsweet
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications