Japanese spiraea or Van Houtte's spiraea: how to tell them apart?
Japanese spiraea and Van Houtte's spiraea look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
Japanese spiraea
Spiraea japonica
Van Houtte's spiraea
Spiraea x vanhouttei
Japanese spiraea has pink flowers in small flat clusters all summer; Van Houtte's spiraea flowers only once, in spring, in cascades of small white flowers along arching twigs.
🍃 Leaves
Lanceolate, toothed, bright green, sometimes tinged with purple depending on the variety
Small, ovate, toothed towards the tip only
🌸 Flowers
Small, pink, grouped in dense flat corymbs at the tops of the twigs
Small white flowers in dense umbels along arching twigs
🍎 Fruits
Small dry follicle, barely visible
Small dry follicles
🪵 Bark
Slender, angular, reddish-brown twigs
Light brown, slender arching twigs
📏 Size
60 cm to 1.50 m tall
1.5 to 2 m tall
🗺️ Habitat
Planted in hedges and garden borders
Widely planted in informal hedges
⚠️ Toxicity
No known toxicity
No known toxicity.
🔎 And from the Van Houtte's spiraea side
Japanese spiraea has pink flowers in small flat clusters all summer; Van Houtte's spiraea flowers only once, in spring, in cascades of small white flowers along arching twigs.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.