Rose Meadowsweet

Spiraea splendens Baumann ; K. Koch, Monats. Ver. Bef
Gart. Preuss. 18: 294. 1875.
Spiraea betulifolia rosea A. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 8 : 381. 1872. Spiraea lucida rosea Greene, Pittonia 2 : 221. 1892.
Spiraea rosea Koehne, Deuts. Dendr. 218. 1893. Not S, rosea Raf. 1838. Spiraea arbuscula Greene, Erythea 3 : 63. 1895.
A shrub, 6-12 dm. high, with erect branches ; bark of the twigs dark reddish-brown, finely puberulent, the outer layer exfoliating the following year ; Ifeaves subsessile or with very short petioles ; blades oval, rounded at both ends, 2-3.5 cm. long, dull, thick, finely puberulent beneath, serrate or doubly serrate, but usually entire at the base, strongly veined beneath ; inflorescence small, dense, flat-topped or rounded, 2-4 cm. (seldom 5 cm.) high and broad, its branches finely puberulent ; hypanthium hemispheric, glabrous or nearly so, 1.5 ihm. deep; sepals triangular, acute, erect or merely spreading; petals rose-colored, obovate, about 1 mm. long, surpassed by the slender filaments ; follicles shining, oblanceolate, their bodies about 2.5 mm. and beaks 1 mm. long ; seeds linear-lanceolate, nearly 2 mm. long.
Type locality : California.
Distribution : In the mountains of California and Oregon.

Spiraea densiflora Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 1 : 414. 1840
A low shrub, 2-6 dm. high, with ascending branches ; bark of the twigs dark reddishbrown, glabrous, the outer layers exfoliating sooner or later ; that of the older stems often dark purplish-brown ; leaves with very short petioles ; blades oval or elliptic, rounded at each end, glabrous or essentially so, bright-green above, somewhat paler beneath, crenate or serrate above the middle, entire at the base, 1.5-3 cm. long; inflorescence small, flattopped or rounded, 2-4 cm. high and broad, its branches glabrous ; hypanthium glabrous, hemispheric, slightly more than 1 mm. deep ; sepals ovate, obtuse, erect or merely spreading ; petals rose-colored, nearly 1.5 mm. long, obovate, surpassed by the slender filaments ; follicles glabrous and shining, oblanceolate, their, bodies nearly 3 mm, and beaks 1 mm. long ; seeds linear-lanceolate, nearly 2 mm. long.
Type locality: Not given, but Nuttall's specimens were collected in the Blue Mountains of Oregon .
Distribution : In the mountains from British Columbia to Oregon, Wyoming, and Montana.