Native to northeast Asia, this species has a general distribution through eastern Siberia and the mountainous parts of north and central Mongolia. It is also found in parts of northern China, North Korea and western Siberia. In the wild the plants are found at forest edges and deciduous and pine mixed forest, forest meadows and sometimes subalpine meadows. This spirea is similar to S. chamaedryfolia , but lower and broader growing. It can grow up to 1.5 meters in height.
Shoots are thin and flexuose.
Last year s fall color was variable from leaf to leaf and colors included purple, wine red, orange, yellow and green. Clusters of from 4 to 10 white flowers appear in May and June with fruit in late summer. Ames 25357 is a population started from seed collected in northern Mongolia at Omnodelger Sum, Henti Aimag in 1998 at latitude 48 deg. Parent plants were growing in an open grassland dominated by Poa , and forbs with scattered Larix trees at higher elevations. Soil at the site was gravelly and formed from eroded granitic rock.