Lysimachia punctata – Dotted Loosestrife – July 2011 – Hill Farm. Image: HFN
Perennial. Zone 2. Myrsinaceae, formerly Primulaceae. A.k.a. YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE, GOLDEN STARFLOWER. Austria, Italy, and east to Turkey.
This rather romping species is native to Europe, and has been grown in gardens for centuries. It was thought to have medicinal properties, being used as a wound herb to stop bleeding, and also to repel insects. Now we grow it strictly for ornament, for its adaptability and the summer beauty of its bright yellow star flowers.
Looking at the vivid yellow, unmarked flowers, you may wonder why Dotted Loosestrife is a common name, but if you look very closely at the undersides of the leave, you will see the tiny dark oil glands which led to Linnaeus choosing punctata – in Latin, “a point” – as its specific designation.
Lysimachia punctata detail, showing the tiny oil glands – the dark specks on the leaf undersides, looking rather like little spots of dirt – which have led to the “dotted” designation. Image: HFN
This plant is quite a tidy clump former its first few years, but keep an eye on it, as it will suddenly decide it needs more ground and it will expand outwards in all directions, though not by runners, merely by shouldering aside less robust neighbours. Lysimachia punctata is a well-respected garden plant, but it is not exactly what one would call shy, so you will want to site it appropriately.
Though Dotted Loosestrife is decidedly a moisture lover, I have had great success with it in a rather dry, neglected bed. It shares its space with a huge clump of ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea picta), ‘Europa’ tawny daylily (Hemerocallis flava), and a perennial sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides, all of which are equally vigorous and have reached a kind of boundary stalemate. This combination has been working nicely for over ten years, though I do occasionally steal a few divisions to put elsewhere or to sell. I did initially grow it in a moist, fertile, newly prepared bed, but it was much too happy there and overran some more delicately precious plants, hence its relative exile to its present location.
Lysimachia punctata and Ribbon Grass (Phalaris arundinaceae picta) – backlit by summer morning sun – Hill Farm – July 2012. Image: HFN
Lysimachia punctata grows to about 2 feet tall and wide in its present place; I suspect it would be even taller with more care. It’s a beautiful plant when in bloom, and something I particularly enjoy is its habit of shedding spent flowers like a cloud of star-shaped confetti all over the ground. It blooms for weeks and weeks, mid June right through July and into August most years, and even after flowering the foliage stays handsome, though a few leaves will brown a bit. It is also an excellent cutflower, though it does shed flowers from the bottom up.
A galaxy of fallen stars – Lysimachia punctata – Hill Farm – July 2011. Image: HFN
There are two variegated varieties which are now in cultivation, both developed from spontaneous colour breaks in plantings of Lysimachia punctata in England.
The first is a white-edged sport called ‘Alexander’, or sometimes ‘Alexander’s’, named after the late husband of its discoverer, Pauline Alexander. First identified in 1990, the plant was patented in 1998, after nursery trials proved its colour stability and growth trait predictability.
Lysimachia punctata ‘Alexander’. Hill Farm, July 2013. Image: HFN
‘Alexander’ is much slower growing than its mother species, and needs a bit of nurturing and a good moist soil at least the first few years. It has extremely appealing pink-blushed emerging growth in spring, very exotic! If this cultivar has a fault it is that the variegation causes puckering along much of the foliage; “purse-stringing”, as it is called. This puckering looks rather like disease or insect damage at first glance, and may be worrisome if you’re not aware that this is a varietal characteristic.
‘Alexander’ Lysimachia punctata – exceptionally attractive early spring foliage. Image: HFN
Whatever genetic mutation was at work was not quite finished yet, for in 1998 another colour break was observed, this time in a test planting of ‘Alexander’ at Walburton Nursery in England. The leaf edges were golden, instead of white, and without the drawstring puckering which marked ‘Alexander’. ‘Golden Alexander’ was separated out, reproduced, and patented as a separate variety in 2003.
Lysimachia punctata ‘Golden Alexander’
Both ‘Alexander’ and ‘Golden Alexander’ are hardy and suitable for the Cariboo-Chilcotin. They are not as vigorous as the green-leafed species, and require some care to ensure they reach full potential, but their bright colour is very appealing and they are worth growing for their strong curiousity value.
Something to watch out for in both of these cultivars is their strong tendency to revert to their all-green state. Vigilantly nip out any green shoots appearing in your colony, as these will quickly take over if allowed to remain.
Lysimachia punctata in all its colour variations thrives in full sun to part shade. It can happily be grown very moist, but accepts drier conditions with aplomb. It appreciates average garden soil – don’t grow it too rich. In general, a tough and trouble free species.
A note here on patented varieties.
These are not supposed to be vegetatively reproduced (ie. by division or cuttings) unless a royalty is paid to the originator. I am all in favour of this – who wouldn’t argue that plant breeders need all the support they can get? – but it creates a slightly difficult ethical situation as there is no reasonable process paying such fees (very minor per plant, as a rule) accessible to the small nursery grower or home gardener.
We are not legally supposed to share ‘Alexander’ or ‘Golden Alexander’ Lysimachia, or even, technically, reproduce these particular named varieties to spread about our own gardens. Now here is the dilemma bit: these cultivars split exceedingly well, and by their very habit are well suited to increasing and sharing, which is likely one of the traits which has made them so attractive to large commercial nurseries.
This has become something of a hot topic among gardeners, who are in general a highly ethical sort of crowd, but who can find themselves faced with confusion regarding their hallowed practice of sharing around interesting plants. Rest assured – the vast majority of our garden cultivars are free of regulation.
But there are an increasing number of patented varieties appearing in horticultural commerce, so note this when you acquire them – the information is included on the plant tags, which the nursery selling the plant MUST include with each start. Look for initial codes such as PPAF (Plant Patent Applied For), or COPF (Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation), or USPP (U.S. Plant Patent), followed by a registration number.
Here at Hill Farm Nursery our goal has always been to grow what we sell: to reproduce our own plants in the traditional manner either from seed or vegetative reproduction of “mother plants”.
The reality of the horticultural marketplace and the new legalities surrounding plant patenting has caused us to look into the logistics of purchasing some patented varieties from commercial plug suppliers, in order to abide by the rules, and still provide our customers with interesting and valuable new plants. Though we may do this occasionally in future, in general we still intend to leave these particular cultivars to the “big guys” and maintain our focus as a small traditional nursery multiplying our plants the old-fashioned way.
