Douglas Spirea, Western Spirea, Hardhack             sp-i-REE-a dug-LAS-ei

• Deciduous shrub, erect, 3-7 ft (1-2 m), compact, freely suckering, branches slender and brown.  Leaves alternate, simple, oblong, 4-10 x 1-2.5 cm, base entire, irregular serrate or toothed above the middle, dark green glabrous above, whitish beneath.  Flowers deep pink, crowded in fragrant clusters (panicles) 5-30 cm long, pyramidal to oblong, appearing powdery from the minute projecting stamens.
• Sun.  Does well in wet areas.  Retains brown seed heads.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5  Native range from Oregon to Alaska, found in marsh borders, stream banks, and wet meadows, sometimes found in drier situations.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: Hort Garden, south of the walk to Cordley, near the service road.