WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Stace 4:

Lysimachia punctata L. (L. verticillaris Spreng.) - Dotted Loosestrife.

Stems to 1.2m, erect; rhizomes short, forming dense patches; leaves 4-12cm, lanceolate to ovate, opposite or in whorls of 3-4, hairy and gland-dotted; flowers in dense axillary groups; corolla 10-16mm, yellow, with dense short-stalked glands especially at margin, with 5 lobes; capsule opening by 5 valves; (2n=30). Neophyte-naturalised; in rough ground and damp places; common and increasing garden escape scattered over most of British Isles; South East Europe. Often not producing seed. Most plants are relatively robust with yellow corolla-lobes orange at the base, longer petioles, and more branched inflorescences with more reduced bracts; these correspond with L. verticillaris, but all intermediates to the typical but much rarer L. punctata exist.

Key:

• Pedicels ≤2cm; calyx glandular-hairy; leaves hairy
• Corolla-lobes glandular-hairy at margins; calyx-teeth uniformly green