| Scientific Name: | Physocarpus opulifolius |
| Common Name: | common ninebark |
| Family Name: | Rosaceae |
| Origin: | Canada - eastern, Garden origin, U.S. - northeast |
| Hardiness Zone: | Zone 3: (-40 to -34 °C) |
| Plant Type: | Shrub - deciduous |
| Mature Size: | 3 - 5m x 3 - 4m (height x width) |
| Habit: | Open, Spreading, Twiggy, Upright |
| Form: | Oval - vertical, Round, Vase |
| Texture: | Medium |
| Landscape Uses: | Accent plant, Cut flower or foliage, Group or mass planting, Mixed shrub border, Screening, Sheared hedge, Specimen plant, Spring interest, Summer interest, Tall background, Woodland margin |
| Exposure: | Full sun only if soil kept moist, Part sun/part shade, Filtered shade |
| Soil or Media: | Acidic, Humus rich, Well-drained |
| Leaves: | Simple, Lobed, Alternate, Soft flexible, Pinnate venation, Glabrous, Ovate, Crenate, Double serrate, Pinnately lobed |
| Flowers: | Corymb, White, Pink, May-Jun |
| Fruit: | Aggregate fruit, Follicle, Red, Sep-Oct, (Persistent) |
| Key ID Features: | |
| Multi-stemmed shrub usually kept to 3-4m tall; leaves alternate, ovate, most blades 5-9cm long x 3-6cm wide, yellowish to purple/chocolate depending on cultivar, 3-lobed, margins crenate to serrate; flowers white corymb, May-Jul; fruit persistent, bright red to dark red. Winter ID: exfoliating bark strips on mature branches, reddish-light brown inner bark. | |