Bridewort likes boggy woods - so it's happy in Shoreline

Photo by Hitomi Dames

Spiraea salicifolia or bridewort, belonging to Rosaceae.

By Hitomi Dames

I never noticed Spiraea salicifolia at Twin Ponds Park before. I think that’s because I usually go to the pond to see birds. This time I went to the community garden first, and walked towards the pond.

The buds are on the left.
Photo by Hitomi Dames

I started to see these flowers along the west of the soccer field,.

And then I found the Spiraea salicifolia by the pond.

How could I miss this shrub before! A 6 foot tall shrub with vivid purple flowers right inbetween the soccer field and playground. Maybe I didn't come here at the right time of the year??

Photo by Hitomi Dames

Family: Rosaceae

Genus: Spiraea

Species: S. salicifolia 

Common Name: Bridewort, Willowleaf meadowsweet (Salicifolia, a Latin word meaning willow-leaved)

Five petals
Photo by Hitomi Dames

It wasn’t easy to find Spiraea salicifolia online. But one site says "Habitats: Wet boggy places in the mountains of N. Japan and more or less naturalized in woods in Wales and N. England” so I surfed Japanese sites. 

Japanese Wikipedia says that Spiraea salicifolia was designated as Endangered II by the Ministry of the Environment Red List in 1997, but was removed from the list in 2007.