Shrub · Rosaceae
White meadowsweet
Spiraea alba · includes its varieties and subspecies
White meadowsweet is recorded as native to 25 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 643 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
White meadowsweet at a glance
- Native in
- 643 counties, across 25 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
White meadowsweet is recorded as native to 25 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 643 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 643 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- Illinois 34 counties
- Indiana 49 counties
- Iowa 3 counties
- Kentucky 3 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 79 counties
- Minnesota 67 counties
- Missouri 5 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 47 counties
- North Carolina 11 counties
- North Dakota 27 counties
- Ohio 53 counties
- Pennsylvania 62 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Dakota 4 counties
- Tennessee 2 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 30 counties
- West Virginia 22 counties
- Wisconsin 66 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 18 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.3 to 6.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SPAL2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Spiraea alba (PLANTS symbol SPAL2), including 2 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources