Dotted Loosestrife, Lysimachia punctata

Common Name: Dotted Loosestrife

Lysimachia punctata, a garden escape more commonly known as Dotted Loosestrife, is an elegant, upright, perennial which grows to a height of over 120 cm favouring moist open woodland, damp grassy places, river banks, marshes. Often found near habitation as a garden escape, but now widely naturalised.

From June to September, it bears clusters of five-petalled yellow flowers (15 – 20 mm) on short stalks in the axils of the stem leaves. The petals are fringed with dense glandular hairs. Unlike Yellow Loosestrife, the opposite, downy, ovate leaves never show black or brown spots on the upper surface (but are spotted on the reverse) and have hairy margins.

The plant belongs to the Primulaceae family and is recorded from most of England, Wales and southern Scotland, but is less common in parts of the Northeast, the East Midlands and East Anglia.

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