Page author: David Giblin
Lysimachia terrestris
swampcandles
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest along the coast in Washington; British Columbia to Oregon and Idaho; native and abundant in central and eastern North America.

Habitat: Cultivated cranberry bogs, and swamps.

Flowers: June-August

Origin: Introduced from eastern North America

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Bees, flies

Description:
General:

Erect, glabrous herb from rhizomes, the flowering stems 2-9 dm. tall.

Leaves:

Lower leaves sessile and clasping, 5-15 mm. long; upper leaves opposite, petiolate, the blades linear-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 3-8 cm. long; sterile shoots often with bulblets in the leaf axils.

Flowers:

Flowers in terminal, leafy, bracteate, simple racemes, the lower flowers often whorled; pedicels slender, 1-2 cm. long; calyx lobes 5, united only at the base, lanceolate, 2-4 mm. long; corolla divided nearly to the base, rotate, yellow, with purplish-black streaks and spots, the 5 lobes oblong-lanceolate, 6-8 mm. long; stamens 5, exerted, opposite the corolla lobes; filaments 3 mm. long. united at the base.

Fruits:

Capsule opening by 5 valves.

Accepted Name:
Lysimachia terrestris (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenberg
Publication: Prelim. Cat. 34. 1888.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Lysimachia bulbifera Curtis
Lysimachia racemosa Lam.
Lysimachia stricta Aiton
Lysimachia terrestris (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenberg var. ovata (E.L. Rand & Redfield) Fernald
Viscum terrestre L.
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Lysimachia terrestris in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Lysimachia terrestris checklist entry

OregonFlora: Lysimachia terrestris information

E-Flora BC: Lysimachia terrestris atlas page

CalPhotos: Lysimachia terrestris photos

13 photographs:
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