1 62 HARDY PERENNIALS 
species are of a somewhat common and weedy 
character. 
Lysimachia. — Loose-strife is the common name 
given to Lysimachia, but it is also appUed to the 
Lythrum, affording an example of the confusion that 
follows the use of so-called simple or common 
names of plants. The Lysimachia s are admirable 
water-side plants, and where a stretch of boggy 
ground or the margins of a pond or stream can be 
planted and left to itself, great masses of the white- 
flowered L. clethroides, the yellow Punctata or 
thyrsiflora, another yellow, provide colour and 
verdure in unlimited quantities. 
Lythrum. — The ruby-rose spikes of L. salicaria 
roseum may be seen in great profusion in many a 
wild uncultivated swamp or marsh, but the beauty 
of the flower justifies its presence in the cultivated 
bog-garden, whilst even in the ordinary border 
the plant will grow and thrive apace so long as an 
occasional soaking is afforded in times of severe 
drought. L. virgatum is of slender growth, but very 
charming, and being perfectly hardy and easy to 
grow, it is a plant that should never be overlooked 
where rosy-purple is an acceptable colour. 
Macrotomia echioides.— This plant is both quaint 
and beautiful, and has claims to greater attention 
than it seems to command. It grows not more than 
a foot high, often flowering even at six inches, and 
practically all through the season, from early Spring 
to late Autumn, a patch of a dozen plants will have 
