Japanese Spiraea
Spiraea japonica
Found in roadsides, woodland borders, old home-sites, bogs, alluvial forests; invasive. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
-85
Severe harm
Not native to Virginia. 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
Do not plant. Listed invasive in Virginia.
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to August
- Fruiting season
- July to August
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Recorded in 40 Virginia 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?
65CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Spiraea
- Acronicta impressaImpressive Dagger, Printed Dagger
- 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
- Celastrina neglectaSummer Azure
Show all 65
- Cenopis reticulatanaReticulated Fruitworm Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Clepsis melaleucanusBlack-Patched Clepsis, Trillium Tortrix
- Crocigrapha normaniNorman's Quaker
- Euchlaena effectaEffective Euchlaena
- Euchlaena irrariaLeast-Marked Euchlaena
- Euchlaena johnsonariaJohnson's Euchlaena
- Euchlaena marginariaOchre Euchlaena
- Euchlaena serrataThe Saw-Wing
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Eupithecia misturataInsignificant Pug
- Eupithecia satyrataSatyr Pug
- Eurois occultaGreat Grey Dart, Great Brocade
- Evora hemidesmaSpirea Leaftier
- Glena cognatariaBlueberry Gray
- Harrisimemna trisignataHarris's Three-Spot
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Lacinipolia loreaBridled Arches, Bridle Groundcat
- Lophocampa maculataSpotted Tussock Moth, Yellow-Spotted Tiger Moth
- Lycophotia phyllophoraBrick Dart, Leafy Dart
- Melanolophia canadariaCanadian Melanolphia, Variable Redmarked Looper
- Metarranthis duariaRuddy Metarranthis
- Metarranthis hypochrariaCommon Metarranthis
- Metarranthis obfirmariaYellow-Washed Metarranthis
- Morrisonia evictaBicolored Woodgrain
- Olethreutes permundanaRaspberry Leafroller
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Orthosia revictaSubdued Quaker
- 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
- Pseudohermonassa bicarneaPink-Spotted Dart
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Rheumaptera hastataSpear-Marked Black Moth, Spear Mark
- Rheumaptera prunivorataFerguson's Scallop Shell, Cherry Scallop Shell
- Schizura ipomaeaeMorning-Glory Prominent, Checkered-Fringe Prominent
- Sicya maculariaSharp-Lined Yellow
- Smerinthus jamaicensisTwin-Spotted Sphinx
- Sphinx gordiusApple Sphinx
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spiramater lutraDarling Mamestra, Splashed Arches, Otter Spiramater, Otter Arches
- Xanthotype sospetaCrocus Geometer
- Xanthotype urticariaFalse Crocus Geometer
- Xestia c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
- Xestia normanianusNorman's Dart
- Xylena nuperaRed Swordgrass Moth, American Swordgrass Moth, False Armyworm
- Acleris macdunnoughi
- Olethreutes albiciliana
- Olethreutes valdanum
—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” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · 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)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · 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
| Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Virginia DCR invasive plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- 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