Description from
Flora of China
Spiraea rubiacea Wallich.
Shrubs to 2 m tall. Branchlets red-purple, angled, hairy when young, glabrescent; buds purple-red, ovoid, with 2 or 3 scales glabrous or slightly pubescent at margin, apex acute. Stipules ovate-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, membranous, slightly pubescent, margin entire, apex acuminate; petiole 1–2 cm, pubescent; leaf blade broadly ovate to triangular-ovate, 4–6 × 3–4.5 cm, glabrous on both surfaces or abaxially slightly pubescent, base cordate, rarely rounded, margin sharply doubly serrate, apex acuminate. Raceme 2–4 cm, 5–12-flowered; peduncle and pedicels glabrous. Flowers 5–6 mm in diam.; pedicel 2–3 mm. Hypanthium urceolate-campanulate, 2–3 mm, abaxially pubescent. Sepals triangular-lanceolate, shorter than or nearly equaling hypanthium, densely pubescent, margin entire, apex acuminate. Petals pinkish white, obovate, ca. 3 mm. Stamens 25–30. Ovary subglobose, slightly hairy at apex; ovules 8–10. Follicles ellipsoid, glabrous. Seeds ovoid. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Aug–Sep.
Grassy slopes by streams in mixed forests; 2500--3000 m. Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sikkim].