LYTHRACE^ LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY 



Decodon verticillatus, (L.), Ell. 



Magenta Swamp Loosestrife, 



Swamp Willow-herb. 

 July-September 



Decodon: from Greek for ten and a tooth. 

 Verticillatus: from Latin for the whirl of a spindle. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: swampy ground. 



THE PLANT: erect, three feet high or more; the submerged 

 parts of the stem often spongy-thickened; the upper stem 

 four to six sided, smooth or downy. 



THE LEAVES: opposite or whorled; lanceolate; with densely 

 matted hairs below; acute at both ends; on short petioles; 

 entire. 



THE FLOWERS: several, in cymes; five petals; ten stamens, 

 half of which are long. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule. 



"No aquatic plant of Nantucket," Mr. Bicknell says, 

 "grows in a greater number of ponds and bog-holes than 

 the Swamp Loosestrife and where it gets a footing it slowly 

 pushes into undisputed possession of the places it chooses 

 to occupy. It is the only shrubby aquatic of the island's 

 ponds, where it makes the outermost fringe of vegetation 

 along many a bushy shore, its wand-like arching and re- 

 curving stems forming an airy embankment above the 

 water. In the autumn its foliage becomes as brilliant as 

 it is possible for leaves to be and enriches some of the 

 smaller ponds with a zone of variegated scarlet." 



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