Loosestrife, the good, the bad and...well none are that ugly.

5:30pm and there was still sunshine beaming into the kitchen, I should be standing in it getting my vitamin D fix, maybe tomorrow.

I was going through my photos and got to thinking about the diversity of Loosestrife species known to occur in Ontario.  It's a shame, to the average person familiar with Loosestrife, the initial image is probably a sea of the invasive Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).  If you spend much time in Lake Erie coastal meadow marshes, you're probably familiar with matted thickets of Swamp Loosestrife (Decodon verticillatus), a few winter shots from a previous post here.  The Endangered Toothcup (Rotala ramosior) falls within the Loosestrife family as well.  There are a couple of populations in Lennox & Addington with about 6000 plants in total. 

Moving to the pseudo-Loosestrifes, the Lysimachias (which are actually in the Primrose family), the horticulturalist might be familiar with a couple of garden centre species, both known as Garden Loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata and Lysimachia vulgaris).  Okay, to the photos already.

Another Swamp Loosestrife otherwise known as Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris) is always nice to catch in bloom, either in marsh habitat or at the edge of the Kapuskasing River like the plant in this shot.  What a beauty!  Species in the genus Lysimachia are kind of unique in that they produce a floral oil instead of a nectar.

Tufted Loosestrife (Lysimachia thyrsiflora) is also quite attractive.  Attractive enough for me to wade down the Ottawa River near Pembroke to get to a nice patch alongside some other neat shoreline species including Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata), Marsh Cinquefoil (Comarum palustre) and Sweetflag (Acorus americanus).

 Sweetflag

 

Marsh Cinquefoil

 

Let's get out of the marsh and head to the Pinery P.P. where you can find Prairie Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadriflora), not to be confused with Whorled Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia).

Picture if you will, 180 degrees from this plant, a lineup of a few of my good friends in flip flops, sunglasses, beach towels hung on their shoulders and a cooler in hand looking at their watch while I wade through a nice patch of open dune vegetation.  I'll catch up with you guys...maybe tomorrow.