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Spiraea tomentosa

Common name:	Hardhack	Family:	Rosaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	N. and C. Europe. Eastern N. America - Nova Scotia to Manitoba, south to Georgia and Kansas.
Habitat:	Fields and pastures in N. America[222]. Swamps and low ground[235].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Hardhack [H,L,S], Silver Leaf [H], Steeple Bush [L,H], Steeplebush [B,P], White Cap [H], White Leaf [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	tomentosa = hairy
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rosales. Rose family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us

Physical Characteristics

A decidious shrub growing to 1.5m. It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent Birthing aid Diuretic Tonic.

The flowers give feebly the medicinal action of salicylic acid (aspirin) and are used in decoction for their diuretic and tonic effect[4]. An infusion of the flowers is used as an astringent[207].
An infusion of the leaves can be used in the treatment of dysentery[257].
An infusion of the flowers and the leaves has been used to counteract the sickness of pregnancy and also to facilitate childbirth[257].
The roots are astringent and have been used in the treatment of diarrhoea[4, 207]. An infusion of the leaves is also used[4, 213].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Tolerates most soils[200], but prefers a good loamy soil, abundant moisture and full sunlight[11, 200].
A vigorous plant, spreading by subterranean suckers and forming thickets[200].
Closely related to S. douglasii[11].
Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus[11].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame if possible. It is likely to require stratification before it germinates, so stored seed should be sown in a cold frame as early in the year as you receive it. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle, and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer of the following year.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a light sandy soil a frame.
Cuttings of mature wood of the current seasons growth, 15cm long, October/November in an outdoor frame[200]. Another report says that September is a good time to do this[11].
Division of suckers in early spring[200]. They can be planted out straight into their permanent positions.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Illustration from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
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This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Spiraea+tomentosa
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