LYTHRAGEyE-LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY 



SWAMP LOOSESTRIFE 



Lythrum salicaria. 



Lythrum, Greek for blood; application obscure. 



A perennial species naturalized from Europe and largely used for 

 planting about the border of ponds and in low, wet places. Variety 

 roseum is the garden form. Midsummer. 



Rootstock. — Creeping. 



Stem. — Erect, three to five feet high, crowned with spikes of many 

 bright, crimson-pink flowers. 



Leaves. — Lanceolate, heart-shaped at base, opposite or whorled in 

 threes. 



Flowers. — Crimson -pink, small, crowded in bracted half-whorls on 

 a wand-like spike at the summit of the stem; honey-bearing. 



Calyx-tube. — Ribbed, with five to six teeth and as many intermediate 

 minute processes. 



Petals. — Five to seven, oblong, slightly twisted, borne on the throat 

 of the calyx. 



Stamens. — Ten to twelve on the throat of the ca.\Yx.; filaments vary 

 ing in length, really trimorphous. 



Ovary. — Two-celled; style one; stigma capitate. 



Capsule. — Many-seeded. 



The Purple Loosestrife came to us from Europe and has become 

 naturalized along the Hudson River and, here and there, in New 

 England. It loves to grow in masses on low, marshy land, and is 

 a favorite for water-side planting. 



At the summit of the wand-like stem, in the axils of leafy bracts, 

 are groups of bright pink-purple flowers, whose narrow, slightly 

 twisted petals give the stalks a rosy, fringed appearance. The 

 flowers present an interesting example of trimorphous stamens 



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