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Primulaceae
Swamp Candles
Lysimachia terrestris
light in dark places.
- Family
- Primulaceae
- Genus
- Lysimachia
- Native to
- Eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Summer
- Type
- perennial herb
- Height
- 1-3 ft
- Sunlight
- full sun to part shade
- Soil
- moist to wet, acidic
- Water
- high
- Hardiness
- 4-8
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Swamp candles earns its evocative name from the upright, spike-like flower clusters that rise like lit candelabras above wet meadow and bog vegetation in July.
- It spreads both by seed and by forming small red bulblets at the leaf axils — these bulblets drop into water and are carried downstream to colonize new wetlands.
- Related to garden loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata) and the invasive purple loosestrife (a different genus, Lythrum), it shares the wet habitat without the invasive tendencies.
- The flowers have tiny red dots at the base of each petal that function as nectar guides for bumblebees navigating the dense wetland vegetation.
- Native Americans used the roots medicinally in preparations to treat muscle cramps and bleeding wounds, particularly in hunting injuries.
Color meanings
0
guidance
1
brightness in adversity
2
natural abundance