Yellow Loosestrife

(Lysimachia terrestris)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: NRCS Plants Database, U.S. Department of Agriculture

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

 

Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia terrestris [L.] B.S.P.)

Identification: Flowers yellow, star-like, with 5 pointed petals. Petals with a ring of red or red dots around the stamens at the center of the flower. Flowers arranged in an elongate, loose, apical spike. Leaves elongate, lanceolate (but broader in the center than at the apex of base), usually in opposite pairs. Plant 8 to 10 inches in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to Newfoundland in the east, southward to Georgia. Also occurs in the Pacific Northwest.

Habitat: Yellow Loosestrife is found in swampy areas or along the shores of lakes, ponds, and rivers.

Flowering period: June to September.

Similar Species: The loose, elongate apical spike of flowers and the red circles at the center of flowers are diagnostic for this species.

Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc. 2003. All rights reserved.