Physocarpus malvaceus
Common name: 
Mallow Ninebark
Mountain Ninebark
Pronunciation: 
fi-so-KAR-pus mal-VAK-e-us
Family: 
Rosaceae
Genus: 
Physocarpus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Deciduous shrub, 2-7 ft (0.6-2.1 m) tall; erect habit, shoots densely, stellate (star-like) pubescence, bark exfoliating in long irregular strips.  Leaves alternate, simple, 2-6 cm long, rounded to broadly ovate, palmately 3 lobed, sometimes 2 smaller lobes, lobes rounded or broadly acute, margins doubly serrated, dark green and pubescent (but also glabrous) above, paler and pubescent below, turn brownish-red in early autumn; petioles 1.3-2 cm long.  Flowers in early summer, 1 cm wide, 5 white petals, few in 3 cm wide hemispherical clusters (corymbs), calyx and stalk pubescent.  Fruit small, in pairs, inflated follicle, slightly keeled and flat, with erect beaks.
  • Sun to shade.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 5   Native range is generally east of the Cascades, from south-central British Columbia to central and eastern Washington and Oregon; east to southwestern Alberta, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah.
  • malvaceus: mallow-like (Malva).
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