Lysimachia congestiflora - Dense-Flowered Loosestrife

Dense-Flowered Loosestrife is a perennial herb, 6-50 cm tall. Stems are prostrate, rooting at nodes, upper part and branches ascending, yellow hairy. Branches are often with leaves only at tip. Leaves are opposite, upper 2 pairs crowded; leaf-stalks 1/2-1/3 time as long as leaf blade, narrowly winged. Leaf blade is ovate to broadly ovate or nearly round, 1.4-3 x 1.3-2.2 cm, hairy, rarely becoming hairless, reddish or black glandular dotted mainly near margin, veins 2-4 pairs. Flowers are borne in racemes at branch-ends, abbreviated, head-like, 2-4-flowered, rarely with solitary flowers in leaf axils below inflorescences. Flower-stalks are up to 2 mm. Sepals lanceshaped, 5-8.5 x 1-1.5 mm, below sparsely velvet-hairy. Flower are yellow, tube 2-3 mm; petals ovate-elliptic to oblong, 7-8 x 3-6.5 mm, sparsely dull red or black glandular dotted, below dull red at base, tip pointed to blunt. Filaments are fused basally into a about 2.5 mm high tube, free parts 2.5-4.5 mm. Capsules are almost sphericalal, 3-4 mm across. Dense-Flowered Loosestrife is found in Eastern Himalayas, from Nepal to Bhutan, NE India, Burma, N. Thailand, E. Tibet, China, Taiwan, at altitudes of 1600-2100 m. It is also cultivated as a garden plant. Flowering: May-June.