ID this please?

[Becky in PA]

I'm sure everyone knows this but me. It's like asking someone to ID a dandelion! But, I don't know what it is so pleeze elp me! It's growing in my meadow, which is a mix of wildflowers and "domesticated" flowers. People give me things and I have no idea what they are and a year or two later I have a mystery flower!

[Old earth dog]

Golden Loosestrife!

[Deb118]

I cant beleive I'm seeing this! I have seen these everywhere the last couple of days, and wondered what they were!

[Becky in PA]

Deb, thank you! I don't feel so dumb!!

OED, when I was trying to key it out in my wildflower book, I kept coming up with loosestrife, but it just didn't look exactly like it did in the pictures! I'll have to go look again, at golden loosestrife.

[Dee]

Do a google search for yellow lysimachia and you will find pics very similar to your plant (if yellow loosestrife doesnt' turn anything up for you).

[Old earth dog]

Try Garden Loostrife. I think that's another name. Don't know the Botanical name though.

[Deb118]

Did she just call me dumb?
j/k Becky

[Becky in PA]

Deb!

[Becky in PA]

I followed Dee's advice and checked on line. I think it's Lysimachia vulgaris (which is not in my wildflower guide!), also called, garden loosestrife, golden loosestrife, yellow loosestrife, and yellow rocket. [/code]

[lazygardner]

Becky and Deb, I don't think I have ever seen it before. It sure is pretty.

[Okanagan]

Lysimachia punctata I believe

[triscuit]

Lysimachia punctata I believe

Well, I am in the same boat, or, um... field here. I have the same plant as the picture above, and a neighbor who would love to have some. However, Lysimachia vulgaris is considered an invasive, and Lysimachia punctata is considered a native wildflower in Maine.

So, can anyone tell me for sure which is which? From my own research I believe, that with the whorled leaves and flowers close to an single stalk, that my specimen is L. punctata. However, I don't want to take the chance and accidently distribute a harmful invasive!

Any ideas?

[Chris_W]

The picture above looks more like pictures I looked at of Lysimachia vulgaris. I grow Lysimachia punctata 'Alexander', a variegeted cultivar, and the flower and foliage is held differently from the picture here. Like you described, they are more whorled and closer to the leaves along the stem on punctata.

[Tigger]

This site http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/gal ... index.html has pretty clear pictures of the two (as well as lots of others: definitely a site to bookmark!). Yours looks exactly like l. punctata.

It's not a U.S. native and will spread, but I guess not as aggressively as the other.

Chris, we have Alexander planted and like it a lot. Does yours sport green a lot? In reality, the flowers show up better on the all-green bits, but the variegated plant is nice season-long.

[Becky in PA]

This is very cool, to see a thread I posted a year ago come back to life! I'm pretty sure mine is L. punctata. I saw from the Connecticut website that they are both introduced from Europe, but I guess the punctata is more polite. I love that variegated one!
Becky in PA
(slowly getting back to thinking about gardening)

[Gardendollee]

No one else wants to address this, then I will.

Yellow loosestrife is very invaisive in the right conditions.

Not even the heavy clay soil mine is growing in can hold it back. If you want to erradicate it, use Round up or make sure you dig out every centimeter of root because it regenerates from root cuttings easily.

Good Luck!