Lysimachia ( )[ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607] is a genus consisting of 182 accepted species of traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae.[ Based on a molecular phylogenetic study it was transferred to the family Myrsinaceae,]
Characteristics
Lysimachia species often have yellow flowers, and grow vigorously. They tend to grow in damp conditions. Several species within Lysimachia are commonly called loosestrife, although this name is also used for plants within the genus Lythrum. The genus is named in honor of Lysimachus, a king of ancient Sicily, who is said to have calmed a mad ox by feeding it a member of the genus.[ Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Native Plant Information Network (NPIN)]
Lysimachia species are used as food plants by the of some Lepidoptera, including the dot moth, grey pug, lime-speck pug, small angle shades, and v-pug.
Specialized pollinators
Bees of the genus Macropis are specialized to pollinate oil-producing Lysimachia plants. These bees use exclusively Lysimachia floral oils for building their nests and provisioning cells. Lysimachia floral-specific chemicals are strong attractors for Macropis nuda and Macropis fulvipes bees that are seldom found in other plant genera.
Fossil record
Several fossil seeds of Lysimachia sp. have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.[Angiosperm Fruits and Seeds from the Middle Miocene of Jutland (Denmark) by Else Marie Friis, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters 24:3, 1985] † Lysimachia nikitinii seed fossils have been collected from Pliocene strata of south eastern Belarus. The fossils are most similar to seeds of the East Asian Lysimachia davurica.[The Pliocene flora of Kholmech, south-eastern Belarus and its correlation with other Pliocene floras of Europe by Felix Yu. VELICHKEVICH and Ewa ZASTAWNIAK - Acta Palaeobotanica 43(2): 137–259, 2003]
Selected species
282 species are accepted.[ Selected species include:
]
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Lysimachia arvensis L. – Scarlet pimpernel
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Lysimachia asperulifolia , orth. var. L. asperulaefolia – roughleaf yellow loosestrife (endemic to Atlantic coastal plain in North and South Carolina)
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Lysimachia atropurpurea L. – purple gooseneck loosestrife
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Lysimachia azorica Hornem. ex Hook. – (endemic to the Azores)
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Lysimachia barystachys Bunge – Manchurian yellow loosestrife
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Lysimachia ciliata Carl Linnaeus – fringed loosestrife (North America)
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Lysimachia clethroides Duby – gooseneck loosestrife
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Lysimachia × commixta – a hybrid of L. terrestris and L. thyrsiflora
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Lysimachia congestiflora
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Lysimachia daphnoides (A.Gray) Hillebr. – Lehua makanoe (Island of Kauai in Hawaii)
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Lysimachia filifolia C.N.Forbes (Islands of Oahu and Kauai in Hawaii)
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Lysimachia foenum-graecum Hance
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Lysimachia fraseri Duby – Fraser's yellow loosestrife (Southeastern United States)
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Lysimachia glutinosa
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Lysimachia hillebrandii Hook.f. ex A.Gray – kolokolo kuahiwi (Hawaii)
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Lysimachia hybrida Michx.
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Lysimachia iniki – Wailua River yellow loosestrife (endemic to Kauai, Hawaii)
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Lysimachia japonica
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Lysimachia latifolia – Pacific starflower
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Lysimachia lichiangensis Forrest
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Lysimachia lydgatei – Maui yellow loosestrife (endemic to Maui, Hawaii)
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Lysimachia maritima
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Lysimachia mauritiana
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Lysimachia minoricensis J.J.Rodr. (Spain)
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Lysimachia nemorum L. – yellow pimpernel
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Lysimachia nummularia L. – creeping jenny, moneywort (Europe, introduced in North America)
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Lysimachia pendens
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Lysimachia × producta – a hybrid of L. terrestris and L. quadrifolia
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Lysimachia punctata L. – spotted loosestrife
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Lysimachia quadriflora Sims – four-flower yellow loosestrife (Eastern North America)
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Lysimachia quadrifolia L. – whorled loosestrife (Eastern North America)
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Lysimachia remyi (islands of Maui and Molokai in Hawaii)
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Lysimachia remyi subsp. maxima (Masam.) I.C.Oh & Anderb. (Molokai)
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Lysimachia remyi subsp. remyi (Maui and Molokai)
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Lysimachia scopulensis
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Lysimachia sertulata Baudo – Chilean melilukul
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Lysimachia terrestris (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb. – swamp candles (North America)
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Lysimachia thyrsiflora – tufted loosestrife
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Lysimachia venosa – veined yellow loosestrife (endemic to Kauai, Hawaii)
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Lysimachia verticillaris Biehler
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Lysimachia vulgaris L. – garden loosestrife, yellow loosestrife (Eurasia)
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