# Pacific ninebark

*Physocarpus capitatus*

The name 'ninebark' comes from the belief that its bark peels into nine distinct, papery layers, which helps the plant shed epiphytes and pests.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Rosales › Rosaceae › Physocarpus
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Riparian zones, moist forest edges, wetlands, and stream banks.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (Photosynthesis)
- **Range:** British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Northern California, Idaho
- **Size:** 1 to 4 meters (3 to 13 feet) tall
- **Lifespan:** 20 to 50 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Urban development, stream channelization, and displacement by invasive weeds like Himalayan blackberry.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. Pacific ninebark is safe to touch and admire. When encountering it along streams, remain on designated trails to avoid trampling the sensitive riparian soils it works so hard to protect.

## About

Physocarpus capitatus , commonly called Pacific ninebark or tall ninebark , is a species of Physocarpus native to western North America from southern Alaska east to Montana and Utah, and south to southern California.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/5cecd620-96f7-471c-82d6-f4b7cbadb573
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57249
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physocarpus capitatus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/7227087/medium.jpg (no rights reserved, CC0, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.