Nearctica - Eastern Wildflowers - Lythraceae - Narrow-leaved Loosestrife (Lythrum lineare)

Narrow-leaved Loosestrife

(Lythrum lineare)

Color Photograph: Southern wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, South National Technical Center.

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

Lythrum hyssopifolia

Narrow-leaved Loosestrife is most likely to be confused with Hyssop-leaved Loosestrife, another salt marsh species. Loosestrife. Hyssop-leaved Loosestrife is a smaller plant, with slightly broader and alternate, not opposite leaves.

Narrow-leaved Loosestrife (Lythrum lineare)

Identification: Flowers white to pink, small, with 6 petals. Calyx elongate with sharp apical points, forming a tubular receptacle for the petals. Stem thin, branched. Leaves small, narrow, in opposite pairs. Plant 1 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Found along the Atlantic Coast from Long Island southward to Florida and westward along the Gulf Coast to Texas.

Habitat: Narrow-leaved Loosestrife is a species of Salt Marshes.

Flowering period: June to September.

Narrow-leaved Loosestrife (Lythrum lineare)

Similar Species:

Hyssop-leaved Loosestrife (Lythrum hyssopifolia)

Similar Species