Spiraea (betulifolia)

Tara Luna USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana 59936 (406) 888-7835 http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/azpmc

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Family Scientific Name:	Rosaceae
Family Common Name:	Rose Family
Scientific Name:	Spiraea betulifolia Pallas
Common Name:	Birchleaf Spiraea
Species Code:	SPIBET
Ecotype:	Open Lodgepole forest, Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park, MT 1000 meters elevation.
General Distribution:	S. betulifolia is found from B.C. to northeastern Oregon, east to Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming, and east across Canada to Saskatchewan. It is also found in Asia.
Propagation Goal:	plants
Propagation Method:	vegetative
ProductType:	Container (plug)
Stock Type:	1.5L containers
Time To Grow:	2 Years
Target Specifications:	Stock Type: Container cutting.<br> Height: 15 cm<br> Caliper: 5 mm<br> Root System: Firm plug in Container.
Propagule Collection:	Cuttings are collected from healthy field plants in early to mid June.
Propagule Processing:	Cuttings are collected in plastic bags and kept under refrigeration prior to pre treatment.
Pre-Planting Treatments:	Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-Rooting Type of Cutting: Summer softwood stem tip cuttings. Cutting Treatments: Cuttings were re-cut and terminal buds were removed. Cuttings were dipped into Domain fungicide bath for 2 mintues to remove surface pathogens. Cuttings were treated with 2000 ppm liquid IBA rooting hormone and were struck in the mist bed with bottom heat. Rooting %: 80%
Growing Area Preparation/ Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:	The outdoor mistbed has automatic intermittent mist that is applied at 6 second intervals every 6 minutes. Too frequent misting will result in leaf and stem rot. Bottom heat is maintained at 21C with heating cables 12 cm beneath rooting media. Rooting media is 50% perlite and 50% sand. Mistbed is covered with shadecloth during rooting.
Establishment Phase:	Time to Transplant: 4 weeks. After cuttings have rooted they are potted into 1.5 L containers using 50% 6:1:1 milled spaghnum peat, perlite, and vermiculite and 50% sand with Osmocote controlled release fertilizer (13N:13P2O5:13K2O; 8 to 9 month release rate at 21C) and Micromax fertilizer (12%S, 0.1%B, 0.5%Cu, 12%Fe, 2.5%Mn, 0.05%Mo, 1%Zn) at the rate of 5 grams of Osmocote and 2.0 grams of Micromax per container and placed in shadehouse for the rest of the growing season.
Length of Establishment Phase:	4 weeks
Active Growth Phase:	Growth is rapid following transplanting from the mistbed to 3L containers. Plants were multi-stemmed and root tight in 1.5 L containers in 1 year.
Length of Active Growth Phase:	8 weeks
Hardening Phase:	Plants were fertilized with 10-20-20 liquid NPKat 200 ppm during September and October and given one final irrigation before overwintering.
Length of Hardening Phase:	4 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping:	Total Time to Harvest: 2 years from cuttings Harvest Date: September Storage Conditions: Overwinter in outdoor nursery under insulating foam cover and snow.
Length of Storage:	5 months
Other Comments:	S. betulifolia is suseptible to fire blight if excessive high nitrogen fertilizers are used while under production.
References:	Flora of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock and Cronquist, University of Washington Press, 7th printing, 1990. Seeds of the Woody Plants in North America, Young and Young, Dioscorides Press, 1992. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation: From Seed to Tissue Culture, Dirr and Heuser, Varsity Press, 1987. Glacier National Park Poropagation Records, unpublished.

Citation:

Wick, Dale; Johnson, Kathy. 2001. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Spiraea betulifolia Pallas plants 1.5L containers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/05/18). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.