Bridal-wreath Spiraea
Spiraea prunifolia
Found in cultivated, escaped or persisting, and now naturalizing extensively in some regions -- an incipient 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
- 4–8 feet
- Spread
- 4–8 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- April to August
- Fruiting season
- May to November
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Recorded in 12 Alabama counties.
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 5a–8b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- White
- Fruit begins
- May
- Fruit ends
- November
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “May” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 5a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “4–8 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody 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 · “white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “4–8 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Bridal wreath Spiraea; Bridalwreath Spiraea; Plumleaf Spiraea
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| 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)
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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