Physocarpus opulifolius Common Ninebark Atlantic Ninebark
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(fye-sew-CARE-pus  op-you-li-FOE-li-us)
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Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius potted plants are available $4 each plus UPS shipping.  Please contact us by email with your address for shipping costs on potted plants. 

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  Physocarphus opulifolius, Common Ninebark is a large attractive shrub covered with 2 inch clusters of small white flowers in May and June and attractive seed pods later in the summer.  The foliage turns yellow-green in the Fall and its peeling bark adds interest in winter.  Plant in humus rich, well drained soil and full sun.  The flowers are a good nectar source for butterflies and the seeds are eaten by several bird species.  A very attractive ornamental plant throughout the season from spring through winter.  Atlantic Ninebark flowers are an excellent nectar source and the seeds are eaten by several species of birds.

Physocarphus opulifolius, Common Ninebark or Atlantic Ninebark occurs naturally on gravel bars, rocky banks, and bluffs along streams from New York to Minnesota and Colorado, south to Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.  Zones 3-9, Rosaceae (Rose Family)

The information below complements of USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1
  (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Atlantic ninebark is cultivated in the US and in Europe for its foliage, clusters of white flowers in the spring, and red fruits in the autumn.  Flowers of Atlantic ninebark are an excellent nectar source, and the fruits are eaten by many species of birds.

Atlantic ninebark can be propagated from cuttings or seeds, which germinate without pre-treatment.  It transplants readily and apparently grows easily over a range of light, moisture, and acidity.  The plants are found on moist soils in thickets, along streams in sand or gravel bars, and on rocky slopes and bluffs.  Dirr (1997) observes that “the species is adaptable to all conditions

Description
General: Rose Family (Rosaceae).  Native shrubs growing 1-3 meters tall, sometimes tree-like, with wide-spreading, recurved branches, the twigs brown to yellowish, glabrous; bark brown to orangish, peeling into thin strips or broader sheets on larger trunks.  Leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple, ovate to obovate or nearly round, 3-12 cm long, with 3(-5) shallow, palmate-veined lobes, basally truncate or cuneate, on petioles 1-3 cm long, glabrous above and mostly so beneath but sometimes with a sparse covering of stellate hairs beneath, with crenate or dentate margins.  Inflorescence of numerous flowers found in rounded clusters 2.5-5 cm wide; flowers 7-10 mm wide, calyx cup-shaped, glabrous or with stellate hairs, 5-lobed; petals 5, white or pinkish; styles 5; stamens 30-40.  Fruit is compressed but inflated, ovoid, 8-12 mm long, shiny, red at maturity, glabrous or hairy, with papery but firm walls, splitting along two sides, in clusters of (2-)3-5 per flower; seeds 2-4.  The common name comes from the bark, which continually molts in thin strips, each time exposing a new layer of bark, as if it had “nine lives.”  This species flowers in May-July and fruits in May-July. 

Variation within the species: two varieties are sometimes recognized within the species.  Var. intermedius (Rydb.) B.L. Robins. has fruits that are persistently covered with stellate hairs, while var. opulifolius has glabrous fruits.  Var. intermedius is the more western form, occurring from New York, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas to the westernmost localities for the species.  Var. opulifolius is broadly distributed in the east, to Minnesota and Iowa, and in Canada from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to Manitoba.  Intergradation in the fruit character makes it difficult to discern clear distributional boundaries.

Distribution

The map below shows areas where Physocarpus opulifolius Atlantic Ninebark shrubs grow wild, it is hardy over a much wider area if planted.  Plant in USDA plant hardiness zones 2 to 9.

Use the chart below for shipping charges on Physocarpus opulifolius Atlantic Ninebark  flower seeds, to order copy the order form or email questions, comments & orders to john@easywildflowers.com 

Please contact us by email with your address for shipping charges & availability on Physocarphus opulifolius, Common Ninebark potted plants

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Physocarphus opulifolius, Common Atlantic Ninebark Plant distribution map complements of USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1
  (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.