Spiraea veitchii (Veitch’s spiraea)

These hardy shrubs are Chinese natives, but they do well in temperate North America.

Plants: Deciduous shrubs are up to 13′ (4 m) tall, with graceful arching branches.

Leaves: ½–1 ⨉ ¼–⅜″ (1.5–3 cm ⨉ 7–10 mm), oblong, elliptic, or obovate, with smooth edges. Leaf surfaces are gray-green and smooth, or very slighly hairy beneath.

Flowers: Rounded corymbs crowded with small white flowers look like attractive snowballs on the arched branches. Corymbs are 1½–2½″ (3.8–6.3 cm) across. Flowers are white ⅛–3/16″ (4–5 mm) in diameter, with petioles 1/16–⅛″ (2–3 mm) long. Each flower has about 20 stamens. Flowers appear from May to June.

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Rosales	Rose family and eight others
Family	Rosaceae	Includes apples, apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, almonds, roses, meadowsweets, photinias, firethorns, rowans, and hawthorns; many others
Genus	Spiraea	From Greek speiraira, “a plant used for wreaths or garlands,” in turn from speira, “spiral or twisted”
Species	veitchii	For British botanist James Veitch, who was instrumental in the introduction of many plant species to the West during the 19th century

About plant names...