LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY. Lythraceae. 



LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY. Lythracece. 



Herbs or shrubs in our range, with four-sided branches 

 and generally toothless, opposite leaves and perfect 

 flowers, though these are occasionally in two or even 

 three forms, i. e., with long filaments (the stem part of 

 the stamen minus the anther) and a short style, or vice 

 versa. Petals 4-7. Stamens 4-14, sometimes the petals 

 are absent. Cross-fertilization effected in a number of 

 instances through the agency of bees and butterflies. 

 Hyssop ^ smooth branching annual, with pale 



Loosestrife green stem and leaves, the latter alternate 

 Lythrum and lance-sliaped, with stemless base, at 



Hyssopifolia ^vhicli there are frequently little narrow 

 Pale purple , r, , . 



magenta leaflets, growmg upon a separate stem of 



July- their own, which, lengthening, forms late- 



September ral, leafy branches above. The pale pur- 



plish magenta flowers usually have six petals and the 

 same number of stamens, or less ; they grow singly in the 

 angles of the leaves. 6-15 inches high. In salt marshes 

 from Me. to N. J., also (according to Britton and Brown) 

 in Cal., and along the coast of South America. 



A similar, paler flowered species with 

 lineare linear leaves growing oppositely ; the 



tiny flowers grow in two forms, explained 

 under the family description above. A perennial 2-8 

 feet high. Salt marshes from N. J., south along the 

 coast to Fla. and Tex. 



A tall slim species with much darker 

 alatum leafage and a smooth, much-branched, and 



angled stem. The leaves alternate (the 

 lowest opposite), lance-shaped, pointed at the tip. and 

 broader at the base. The flowers deep purple-magenta, 

 \ inch or more broad, and dimorphous, that is, in two 

 forms, as explained above ; the stamens very long in 

 some blossoms. 1-3 feet high. In low moist ground, 

 from Mass. (East Lexington, and Boston), Vt. (Char- 

 lotte), south to Ky., and west to Minn., S. Dak., Col., 

 and Ark. 



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