Adirondack Wildflowers:
Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris)
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Adirondack Wildflowers: Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris) on the Boreal Life Trail (18 July 2013)
Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris) is a native wetland plant which produces a cluster of small yellow flowers in summer. Each flower is about 5/8 inches wide, with five narrow yellow petals. Each petal is marked with two red spots on the base. The leaves are lance-shaped, up to four inches long, and usually opposite. The stems are smooth and green. The plant grows 16 to 32 inches in height. Late in the season, red bulblets may form in the leaf axiis.
Swamp Candles are part of the Primrose Family (Primulaceae). The plant is also known as Yellow Loosestrife, Bulbil Loosestrife, Earth Loosestrife, and Bog Loosestrife.
Swamp Candles grow in swamps, marshes, bogs, and wet meadows. This plant can be found in the eastern half of the US and Canada, including New York State. It grows in Manitoba east to Newfoundland, south to Georgia, and northwest to Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. It has been introduced into the northwestern US, where it may be found in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia.
Adirondack Wildflowers: Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris) on the Boreal Life Trail (2 August 2013)
At the Paul Smiths VIC, Swamp Candles may be seen along the banks of Barnum Brook along the Boreal Life Trail boardwalk. This plant usually blooms in this part of the Adirondack Park in late July and early August, depending on the weather.
References
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Native Plant Database.
- Flora of North America. Plant Database.
- Minnesota Wildflowers. Database.
- United States Department of Agriculture. Plants Database.
- NatureServe Explorer. Online Encyclopedia of Life.
- University of Wisconsin. Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium.
- Connecticut Wildflowers. Wildflower Guide.
- New York Flora Association. New York Flora Atlas.
- Doug Ladd. North Woods Wildflowers (Falcon Publishing, 2001), p. 133.
- Lawrence Newcomb. Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Little Brown and Company, 1977), pp. 266-267.
- Roger Tory Peterson and Margaret McKenny. A Field Guide to Wildflowers. Northeastern and North-central North America (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968) pp. 106-107.
- National Audubon Society. Field Guide to Wildflowers. Eastern Region. (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001), p. 716.
- William K. Chapman, et al. Wildflowers of New York in Color (Syracuse University Press, 1998), pp. 86-87.
- Anne McGrath. Wildflowers of the Adirondacks (EarthWords, 1981, 2000), p. 81, Plate 23.
- Steven Clemants and Carol Gracie. Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 194-195.
- Meiyin Wu and Dennis Kalma. Wetland Plants of the Adirondacks. Herbaceous Plants and Aquatic Plants (Trafford Publishing, 2010), p. 88.