Garden Loosestrife

(Lysimachia vulgaris)

 

   

 

 

Color Photographs: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Garden Loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris L.)

Alien: Native of Europe.

Identification: Flowers yellow with 5 petals, star-like. Petals pointed at the apex. Stamens red to orange. Most flowers in a terminal panicle, but other arising in small clusters from the leaf axils. Stem and leaves downy. Leaves elongate, broader at the middle than at the base or apex, usually arranged in whorls of 3 or 4. Plant 2 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Garden Loosestrife is found from Wisconsin to Quebec, southward to Maryland.

Habitat: Garden Loosestrife is a garden escape found in a variety of disturbed habitats including roadsides and thickets.

Flowering period: June to September.

Similar Species: Another garden escape, Lysimachia punctata (not treated here) has its flowers most arising in clusters from the leaf axils, not in a terminal panicle. The petals are edged with fine hairs.

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