Spiraea (corymbosa)

John M. Englert USDA NRCS - Norman A. Berg National Plant Materials Center Bldg. 509, BARC - East, E. Beaver Dam Road Beltsville, Maryland 20705 (301) 504-8175 (301) 504-8741 (fax) john.englert@wdc.usda.gov http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/mdpmc/

---

Family Scientific Name:	Rosaceae
Family Common Name:	Rose Family
Scientific Name:	Spiraea corymbosa
Common Name:	Meadowsweet
Species Code:	SPICOR
Ecotype:	Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
General Distribution:	Eastern United States.
Propagation Goal:	plants
Propagation Method:	seed
ProductType:	Plug + (container-field grown hybrids)
Time To Grow:	0
Target Specifications:	Stock Type: Shrub outplanted as bare root seedlings, and as container plugs, quarts, and larger. Because the seed is so small spirea seedlings are started in the National Plant Materials Center greenhouses and transplanted as plugs into the National Plant Materials Center woody beds, or delivered to the park as container plants (plugs or quarts most recently). In the woody beds they are grown under shade for two years and are dormant-harvested during late fall or early winter. They are over-wintered bare root in moist sawdust in the NPMC cooler. In spring, bare root stock is delivered to the park for outplanting or potted into containers and grown as specimens for high visibility areas (i.e. parking lots) in the park. Specimen plants are finished in our shade house as 2-3 gallon containers. Height: Varies with planting form. Root System: Full root ball, fills container.
Propagule Collection:	Collected in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Chadwell Gap Trail by J. Englert on 10/5/1996.
Propagule Processing:	Seed Processing: Seed is hand collected from the park in October and cleaned by hand. Seeds/Kg: Approximately 1,000,000. Germination: Untested. 0.1 g seed produced over 1,000 seedlings in 1999. Purity: Undetermined.
Pre-Planting Treatments:	Seed Treatments: None needed.
Growing Area Preparation/ Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:	Propagation Environment: Greenhouse with alternating day/night temperatures. Trays were placed under continuous fluorescent light and mist (4-second duration at 15 min intervals) during germination. After germination seedlings were given extended 14 hour days under high intensity lights from 4:30-10:30 p.m. Seed Propagation Method: Seed was surface-sown by hand. Container Type and Volume: Seed is started in 392 germination plug trays, transplanted to 72 plug trays, 2" pots or Ropak multipots then plugged out into the National Plant Materials Center woody beds. In 2000, some seedlings were delivered to the park as plugs for planting on the element walls. For container specimens, bare root seedlings were harvested from the woody beds in December, over-wintered in cold storage, potted up the following spring and bumped up in successive seasons to 2-3 gallon pots depending on finished size specified by the Park. Growing Media: Started in Fafard Germination Mix, transplanted into Sunshine #1 plus 180 day Nutricote SR 18-6-8 at 20 oz. per batch or 0.15 lb. per cu. ft. mix.
Establishment Phase:	Sowing Date: 1/8/98 and 11/3/99. % Emergence and Date: Huge numbers of seedlings (i.e. about 1,000 from 0.1 g seed) emerged within 7-14 days. Seedlings were so dense they had to be transplanted in clumps and thinned as they grew. (See below). Sowing/Planting Technique: 0.1 gram seed was mixed with 4 grams of talc and surface-sown over moist germination mix in 406 germination trays. (Suggest going with smaller amounts of seed and more talc since seed germinated in clumps of 3-8 per cell). Drench seed trays with fungicide (we used Triathlon) to reduce fungal growth on media surface. Trays were placed under mist (10 seconds at 30 minute intervals) and 24 hour fluorescent lighting for about 10 days until germinated. Establishment Phase: Seedlings germinated quickly but failed to put on much growth during January and February. Seedlings were transplanted 50-60 days post germination to larger containers in clumps as individuals were too small to separate. They were grown under extended (14-hour) day length. Plants were thinned. Foliage was cut back at about 3" to encourage development of stronger, less succulent, stems.
Active Growth Phase:	Rapid Growth Phase: Began in April. Plugs filled out in April and May and were ready for field planting in June.
Hardening Phase:	Hardening Phase: Plugs were set outdoors in a protected location out of direct sun for about 2 weeks prior to outplanting in the field and at the Park.
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping:	Total Time to Harvest: 17 weeks from germination to finished plug in 72 trays in 1998, 24 weeks to finished size in Ropak Multipots in 2000. (This longer finishing time was probably due to unreliable heat in our greenhouse and the larger plug size in the multipots.) Seedlings are lined out in the woody beds as plugs, grown for two years before bare root harvest. Specimen plants are bumped up to the next larger container size approximately yearly and held during the growing season in a shade house. Harvest Date: Late fall, early winter for bare root harvest from the National Plant Materials Center woody beds. Storage Conditions: Dormant bare root seedlings are harvested from the National Plant Materials Center woody beds in the fall, bundled, packed in moist sawdust and overwintered in cold storage (at 40§F). Container plants in the National Plant Materials Center shade house are overwintered under microfoam. Seed storage: In cooler at 40§F, 35% relative humidity. Seed dormancy: None.
Length of Storage:	<b>Storage Duration:</b> Approximately 3-4 months.
References:	USDA, Forest Service. Agriculture Handbook #450. Seeds of Woody Plants in the United States. 1974. Washington D.C.

Citation:

Davis, Kathy M.; Kujawski, Jennifer. 2001. Propagation protocol for production of Plug + (container-field grown hybrids) Spiraea corymbosa plants USDA NRCS - Norman A. Berg National Plant Materials Center Beltsville, Maryland. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/11/22). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.