LYTHRUM (Gr. AziOpoY, blood, from the crimson or purple color of the flowers), a genus of herbaceous plants, called also LOOSESTRIFE in common with lysimaellia (q.v.), although belonging to another order, lythracece. Calyx cylindrical; striate, 5 to 7 toothed; petals, to 7; stamens as many as the petals, or twice the number, inserted low down on the calyx; pod oblong, two-celled. The herb is slender, with opposite or scattered, mostly sessile leaves, and purple flowers. The L. salicaria, or spiked loosestrife, is a native of Europe, but is found in some of the older states in this coun try in wet meadows, particularly in New England and c. New York, where it is fre. quently cultivated; leaves lanceolate, heart-shaped at the base, somethnes whorled in threes; stamens 12, twice the number of petals, 6 longer and 6 shorter. It is a fine, tall, rather downy plant, with large flowers, from crimson to purple; perennial. By grow ing in dry places the plant becomes more downy and hoary, and considerably dwarfed. The herb has a. mucilaginous. astringent taste. The blackish brown. branching, and
fibrous root is also astringent, mucilage and tannin being its principal constituents. It has a place in pharmacop(cias as a medicine, and is much used in Europe in diarrhea, dysentery, and passive hemorrhages. It is usually given in decoction made by boiling an ounce of the root in a pint of water, the dose being from one to two fluid ounces. The principal species indigenous to the United States are L. hyssopifolia, a low annual, from 6 to 10 in. leaves oblong-linear, obtuse, longer than the inconspicuous. flower.s; petals, pale purple, 5 to 6 in number; stamens the same; found in marshes on the coast of New England and New Jersey. L. nlatum: tall and wand-like; perennial; -leaves from oblong-ovate to lanceolate; color deep purple; growing in Michigan, Wis. cousin, and southward. L. lineUre: stem slender and tall, from 3 to 4 ft., bushy at the top; leaves linear, short, chiefly opposite; petals whitish; grows in brackish marshes in New Jersey aud(southward.