PRINT ADS

Anybody who might read these words has likely seen the term “loosestrife” before. I’ve certainly mentioned it as an infamous weed with reddish flowers that has been destroying our wetland habitats for a number of years. But I want you to know that this same term is also used as the English name of a whole passel of well-behaved native plants with attractive yellow flowers.

“Loosestrife” appears to mean “stopping conflict,” which may be all right. But it seems to have been used as the translation for two foreign words of different meanings that have left us in the dark somehow. Yet, yellow loosestrife and purple loosestrife are not related. If there is any connection, it’s only that the purple loosestrife is a marsh plant and some of the yellow ones also have a certain affinity for life in the water. The purple one is aggressive, tending to take over any place it finds a foothold. The yellow flowered ones mingle well with their neighbors.

There are a number of species among the yellow loosestrifes, ranging in stature from low creepers to upright plants about four feet tall. The one I know best is an upright and adaptable plant that grows to about four feet tall and can be found growing in sun or partial shade in almost any undisturbed location, wet or dry. Its stems are slender, its ovate leaves and branches tend to grow oppositely and in pairs. Inch-wide, bright yellow flowers with five petals spring from leaf junctures and usually lean just enough to give the impression that they are interested in something on the ground. Each petal ends in a sharp point. The identifying mark of this species is a double row of bristly hairs along each short leaf stem, which give it the name fringed loosestrife.

A similar but shorter and less common species in our area is the lance-leaved loosestrife. It grows to about two feet and has slender paired leaves that taper toward both ends. It, too, produces bright yellow flowers from the leaf axils, though these face almost straight out to look the world in the eye. This one produces runners from the base that tend to create clumps of stems in the neighborhood of the parent plant.

Two other species similar to the one above are known as whorled loosestrife and prairie loosestrife. Both species have leaves in circles of at least four at each juncture instead of in pairs. Whorled loosestrife has elliptical leaves (broad in the middle, pointed on both ends), while the prairie species has narrow leaves with parallel edges. The two species are further separated by the size of their flowers, which are considerably smaller on the whorled.

All the species above have flowers that stand out individually. There is one species, though, the tufted loosestrife, where the small flowers grow in clusters. The first time I saw one of these I was totally confused. The form of the individual flowers are essentially the same in all species, though, and that is what counts. The latter three species are usually associated with wet places, though. The tufted, especially, may stand in water.

Just a summary of the “good” loosestrifes one might find along the trail.