Description
Spiraea thunbergii (common names : baby's breath spirea, Thunberg spirea; Japanese common name : yuki-yanagi) is a small, long-lived shrub with thin, flexible stems. It is native to Japan and China. It is also a popular landscape shrub in southeastern U.S.
The flowers are white, borne in early spring (late March to early April) and late fall. It reaches a height of 1.5-1.8 meter and is about as wide. The alternate, simple, almost linear leaves are semideciduous.
This plant produces phytotoxic cis-cinnamoyl glucosides and cis-cinnamic acid The plant-growth inhibition characteristics can be used against diverse species as lettuce (Lactuca saliva), pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus), red clover (Trifolium pratense), timothy (Phleum pratense), and bok choy (Brassica rapa var chinensis). The characteristics of these natural chemicals indicate a potential role of cis-cinnamic acid and its glucosides as allelochemicals (chemicals, released from plants, that cause an interaction between plants and other living organisms) for use as plant growth regulators and weed suppression in agricultural fields and in natural ecosystems.
This species forms an interspecific hybrid with Spiraea japonica L. fil.
In the horticultural trade one can obtain several varieties of Spiraea thunbergii, such as 'Mt Fuji' (white flowers), 'Ogon' (bright yellow-green leaves and white flowers), 'Mellow yellow' and 'Fugino pink'
Read more about this topic: Spiraea Thunbergii
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“Why does philosophy use concepts and why does faith use symbols if both try to express the same ultimate? The answer, of course, is that the relation to the ultimate is not the same in each case. The philosophical relation is in principle a detached description of the basic structure in which the ultimate manifests itself. The relation of faith is in principle an involved expression of concern about the meaning of the ultimate for the faithful.”
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965)
“Whose are the truly labored sentences? From the weak and flimsy periods of the politician and literary man, we are glad to turn even to the description of work, the simple record of the month’s labor in the farmer’s almanac, to restore our tone and spirits.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The type of fig leaf which each culture employs to cover its social taboos offers a twofold description of its morality. It reveals that certain unacknowledged behavior exists and it suggests the form that such behavior takes.”
—Freda Adler (b. 1934)