GREAT YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE 109 



Great Yellow Loosestrife ( Lysimachia vuli^aris, L.) 



This is a marsh plant, nut yet hiund in (ilacial pitinl beds in the 

 Northern Temperate and Arctic Zones in Arctic Europe, North Africa, 

 N. Asia, antl it is represented in Australia hy a nearly allied species. 

 In Great Britain it is not foinul in iht- Peninsula province in N. Dexon, 

 but is general in the Chaimel, riiamcs, and Anglia provinces, and 

 in the Severn pnixince generalK ; in .S. Wales not in Radnor; in 

 N. Wales not in Montgomery, 1 )enl)iL;'h, or Anglesea; throughout 

 the Trent and Mersev pro\inces, except Mid Lanes; in the Humber 

 and Tvnc provinces, except in Cheviotland; and in the Lakes pro- 

 vince, except in the Isle of Man. It occurs throughotit the whole 

 of the W. Lowlands; onlv in Lerwick. Edinburgh, Linlithgow in the 

 E. Lowkunls; in the \\. Highlands, only in Fife, -Stirling. W. I'crth, 

 Kincardine, S. Aberdeen; in the W . Highlands, in Humbarton and 

 Mid Ebudes. It is rare in Scotland and local in Ireland. 



The Common or Yellow Loosestrite, not so common reall) as the 

 Wood Loosestrife and Creeping Jenny, is found here and there through- 

 out the countrv bv the sides of rivers and other tracts ot running water, 

 but owing to the drainage of the country it is less common than 

 formerlv. Other plants of this t\ pe are F'rogbit, Snakeshead, I'ritil- 

 larv, and we mav add the introduced Musk, which, once on the increase, 

 is now again decreasing. It is also a [)lant of peaty woodland swamps, 

 and grows frequently in ditches. 



The plant is erect in habit. Usually it is downy. The rootstock 

 is creeping, and the plant is stoloniferous. The stem is erect, rather 

 square in .section. The leaves vary greatly in size, shape, and the 

 amount of down. In one form there are 3 lea\-es in a whorl, in 

 another 4. They arc, it not whorled, opposite, egg-.shaped or lance- 

 shaped, dotted. .As with most verticillate leaves there are no leaf- 

 stalks. There may be Ijlack glands on the leaves below, or they may 

 be hairless or downy. 



The flowers are golden-yellow with rcil spots at the base, in terminal 

 or axillary panicled cymes, which are simple or compound. The corolla 

 is more or less bell-shaped, the 5 lobes entire, egg-shaped, not fringed 

 with hairs, without alternating teeth. The lobes of the calyx are 

 lance-shaped, fringed with hairs, with red margins. The 5 anther- 

 stalks are united below, and the- stamens included. The capsLiIe is 

 round. The seeds are rough with a l)order, 3-angled. 



Great Yellow Loosestrite is about 3 ft. in height. The flowers 



