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Re: Loosestrife, yikes.

Title: Re: [GWL] Loosestrife, yikes.
Sounds to me as though the "varieties" Sharon mentions are all Lysimachia, also called loosestrife but belonging to the Primulaceae family, not Lythraceae.

There are some native varieties (Lysimachia ciliata and L. fraseri which are green with yellow flowers) while others are from China, Japan (L. clethroides, gooseneck loosestrife) and Europe (L. punctata). The purple-foliaged forms (L. ciliata 'Purpurea',  L. c. 'Firecracker') and variegated one (L. p. 'Alexander') are as vigorous as the plain green ones and, while they won't threaten wetlands, they sure can take over a border in a hurry. I have routed all mine out.  I tried growing them in containers and they were fine for a season but ultimately sulked at the restriction.

BTW, when I was at the Chicago Botanic Garden in 2000, they were selling pots of purple loosestrife even as it was encroaching on the ditches, roadside and ponds.

Karen
Mississauga, Ontario

Karen York is a botanical editor and author of The Holistic Garden: Creating Spaces for Health and Healing (Prentice Hall, 2001; Penguin/Putnam, 2002).

on 1/5/03 6:37 AM, Hamptongar@aol.com at Hamptongar@aol.com wrote:

Sharon:

I think the only Lythrum we're talking about is Lythrum salicaria.  There's an excellent site at http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/plant_profile.cgi?symbol=LYSA2 where you can get much more information on the plant, it's synonyms, distribution and where it's been banned from production and sale in the U.S.
    I'm most interested in the varieties you mentioned in your posting though.  If you get the time could you note some of the species or varietal names?
    




Andrew Messinger
The Hampton Gardener
The Hampton Gardener is a Registered Trade Mark
(Published every Thursday in the Southampton Press)



Karen York is a botanical editor and author of The Holistic Garden: Creating Spaces for Health and Healing (Prentice Hall, 2001).

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