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Ninebark produces round or domed clusters (racemes) of 30-50 flowers on the tips of young stems. Individual flowers are about 1/2" across; they have a light green calyx with five triangular teeth, five white petals, 30-40 pink-tipped stamens, and 3-5 styles with yellow stigmas. The inside surface of the flower between the styles and the base of the stamens (the hypanthium) is prominently colored tan, orange, or red. After fertilization, each flower produces 2-5 adjacent fruits "follicles"), greenish-red in color, drooping from the long, slender flower pedicels. Single follicles contain a single, hard seed; the follicles are about 8 mm long with a slender, pointed beak protruding from one side. There are two varieties of ninebark characterized by whether the surface of the follicle is hairy; the variety present in Jackson Park (var. intermedius) has a hairy surface.

Physocarpus

Physocarpus opulifolius

ninebark [Blooms: May-Jun]