Yellow Loosestrife
Scientific Name: Lysimachia vulgaris L.
Family: Primulaceae
MORPHOLOGY
Habit and Size: Perennial herbaceous plant with creeping underground rhizomes, reaching heights of 60 to 120 cm.
Stems: Erect, pubescent, grooved, and highly branched in the upper part.
Leaves: The stem leaves may be opposite or whorled in groups of 3 or 4, with lanceolate blades up to 12 cm long, with entire undulate margins. The upper leaves are sometimes alternate, glabrous and shiny above, lighter and pubescent on the veins below, with well-visible reticulate veins; all are shortly petiolate.
Flowers: The flowers are grouped in dense, pyramidal, apical panicles, leafy at the base, with linear bracts at the top; calyx with acute, red-bordered lobes; golden yellow corolla. Blooms from May to August.
Fruits and Seeds: The fruits are globose capsules, 4-6 mm in size, very showy, dehiscent, and single-chambered. Numerous, rough seeds.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Found throughout Italy in marshes, at the edges of reed beds, in wet meadows, along ditches and watercourses, on lake shores, in shallow bays, from sea level to 1,200 m.
USE
Expectorant, astringent, soothing, and febrifuge. It was used in the past to treat fevers and abscesses. Before taking any plant-based product (medicinal or non-medicinal) for therapeutic or similar purposes, it is always advisable to consult your doctor first. The stem provides a yellow dye, while the flowers produce a dye used to lighten hair.
INTERESTING FACTS
The smoke generated by its combustion seems to repel and destroy flies. Cultivated as an ornamental plant.
Photo: Licensed for free use by Saxifraga and Jan van der Straaten, Ed Stikvoort.
