Shrubs to 6 m tall. Branches spreading; branchlets terete, yellow-green and slightly stellate hairy or pubescent when young, later dark red-brown and glabrous; buds purple-brown, ovoid or oblong, glabrous or slightly pubescent at apex. Stipules triangular-ovate, 8-10 mm, glabrous on both surfaces or subglabrous, apex acuminate. Leaflets 13-17, opposite, sessile or nearly so, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 4-9 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, abaxially slightly stellate hairy, lateral veins in 20-25 pairs, abaxially conspicuous, base broadly cuneate, margin doubly serrate, apex acuminate. Panicle 20-30 cm long, 15-20 cm wide, many flowered; peduncle and pedicels slightly stellate hairy; bracts lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 4-5 mm, slightly pubescent, apex acuminate. Flowers 6-7 mm in diameter; pedicel 2-3 mm. Hypanthium shallowly cupular, glabrous. Sepals oblong-ovate, glabrous, apex obtuse. Petals white, suborbicular, 3-4 mm, base cuneate, apex obtuse. Stamens 20-30, longer than petals. Carpels 5, glabrous. Follicles cylindric, ca. 3 mm, glabrous, with persistent, reflexed sepals; fruiting pedicel pendulous.

Sorbaria arborea C.K. Schneid.:
China (Asia)

Sorbaria kirilowii (Regel) Maxim.:
China (Asia)

Sorbaria arborea is occurring in Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan of China.

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Sorbaria arborea is here defined to rachis, leaflets abaxially, and inflorescence slightly stellate hairy.

Shrubs to 3 m tall. Branches erect; branchlets glabrous; buds red-brown. Stipules linear-lanceolate, 8–15 mm, glabrous or subglabrous, apex obtuse or acute. Leaflets 13–21, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 4–7 × 1.5–2 cm, glabrous on both surfaces or abaxially pubescent in vein axils, lateral veins in 15–23 pairs, reticulate veins conspicuous, base cuneate to rounded, apex acuminate or caudate. Panicle dense, 7–11 × 5–20 cm; peduncle and pedicels glabrous; bracts lanceolate, 2–5 mm, glabrous, apex acuminate. Flowers 5–7 mm in diam.; pedicel 3–4 mm. Hypanthium shallowly cupular, glabrous on both surfaces. Sepals persistent and reflexed (rarely spreading) in fruit, ovate to oblong, glabrous, apex obtuse. Petals white, obovate or broadly ovate, 4–5 mm. Stamens ca. 20, slightly shorter than or equaling petals. Style lateral. Follicles cylindric, ca. 3 mm; fruiting pedicel erect. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Sep–Oct.

Shrubs to 6 m tall. Branches spreading; branchlets terete, yellow-green and slightly stellate hairy or pubescent when young, later dark red-brown and glabrous; buds purple-brown, ovoid or oblong, glabrous or slightly pubescent at apex. Stipules triangular-ovate, 8–10 mm, glabrous on both surfaces or subglabrous, apex acuminate. Leaflets 13–17, opposite, sessile or nearly so, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 4–9 × 1–3 cm, glabrous on both surfaces or abaxially slightly or densely stellate hairy, lateral veins in 20–25 pairs, abaxially conspicuous, base broadly cuneate, margin doubly serrate, apex acuminate. Panicle 20–30 × 15–20 cm, many flowered; peduncle and pedicels glabrous or slightly or densely stellate hairy; bracts lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 4–5 mm, slightly pubescent, apex acuminate. Flowers 6–7 mm in diam.; pedicel 2–3 mm. Hypanthium shallowly cupular, glabrous. Sepals oblong-ovate, glabrous, apex obtuse. Petals white, suborbicular, 3–4 mm, base cuneate, apex obtuse. Stamens 20–30, longer than petals. Carpels 5, glabrous. Follicles cylindric, ca. 3 mm, glabrous, with persistent, reflexed sepals; fruiting pedicel pendulous. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Sep–Oct.

Spiraea kirilowii Regel & Tiling, Fl. Ajan. 81. 1858; Sorbaria sorbifolia (Linnaeus) A. Brown var. kirilowii (Regel & Tiling) Ito.

Sorbaria arborea var. arborea is close relative of Sorbaria arborea var. glabrata, but differs from the latter in its slightly stellate hariy (vs. glabrous) rachis, leaflets abaxially, and inflorescence.

Growing in slopes near forest margins or by streams; 2500-3500 m.

Slopes in open mixed forests; 200--1300 m. Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi.

Dense forests, forest margins, slopes, stream sides, roadsides; 1600--3500 m. Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan.

Flowering from June to July; fruiting from September to October.

Phylogenetic relationships among 88 genera of Rosaceae were investigated using nucleotide sequence data from six nuclear (18S, gbssi1, gbssi2, ITS, pgip, and ppo) and four chloroplast (matK, ndhF, rbcL, and trnL-trnF) regions, separately and in various combinations, with parsimony and likelihood-based Bayesian approaches (Potter et al., 2007). The results suggest the genus Sorbaria belong to Subfamily Spiraeoideae, Tribe Sorbarieae, distinctive non-molecular features including alternate and compound leaves, connate ovaries, adnate hypanthium, follicetum fruit, base chromosome number X = 9.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 2
Species: 8
Species With Barcodes: 1

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 1
Species: 9
Species With Barcodes: 1

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked