Sorbaria sorbifolia var. stellipila ("Hozakinanakamado")

Japanese name: ホザキナナカマド （穂咲七竈）
Scientific name: Sorbaria sorbifolia var. stellipila

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub 2.5–3 m tall, found at sunny forest edges in the mountains.
It branches freely.
The leaves are alternate, odd-pinnately compound, 15–30 cm long, and consist of 7–11 pairs (15–23) of leaflets.
The leaflets are 4–10 cm long and 0.8–3 cm wide, narrowly ovate to narrowly elliptic, with stellate hairs on the underside at first, and have 12–16 pairs of lateral veins.
The leaf margins have sharp double serrations.
The rachis and petiole bear stellate hairs and fine hairs.
Large panicles 10–25 cm long at the branch tips bear many densely packed flowers, and the inflorescence has stellate hairs and fine hairs.
The flowers are white, 5-petaled, 0.8–1 cm across.
There are 40–50 stamens, longer than the petals.
The fruit is a follicle.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by cuttings.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained site.
It grows in partial shade too, but flowers poorly if the site is not sunny enough.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long sunny spell and the soil dries out.
Apply organic fertilizer around the plant as fertilizer in winter.
Pests and diseases include powdery mildew and borers (larvae of longhorn beetles).

[Notes]
It resembles Niwa-nanakamado, but can be distinguished by the presence or absence of hairs and by the number and length of the stamens.

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