LYSIMACHIA, (Lat., from Gk.
Nuao.t.cix/op, lysinwchion, a medicinal herb, sup posed to be named in honor of AtartAaxos, Lysi machos, Lysimachus, a king of Thrace, but more probably from loosing strife. from Xime, lyein, to loose + pixn, muck(', strife), or LOOSESTRIFE. A genus of plants of the natu ral order Primulacew, or primrose family. They are leafy, stemmed perennials, generally with yellow flowers, axillary, or in a terminal raceme. Species grow in nearly all parts of the world, several in the United States, some being culti vated in gardens, as the moneywort (Lysimachia which was introduced from Eu rope. In this the leaves are roundish. small, with short petioles; peduncles axillary, one-flowered, ovate, acute sepals. It is a beautiful plant for hanging baskets and for covering rocks, and also for carpeting beneath shrubs. forming, as it does, a thick mat. In some places it has es caped from the gardens into damp ground. It
blooms from July to September. There are three indigenous and one introduced species enume rated by Gray as occurring in the United States: Lysimachia thyrsifiora, or tufted loosestrife, found in swamps from Pennsylvania northward, blooms in June and July: Lysimachia stricta, in low grounds, blooming from June to August: Lysi machia quadrifolia, a common plant in the Mid dle States. growing in moist or sandy soil, blooming in June; and Lysimachia Nummularia• noticed above. Lysimachia vulgaris, the yellow of Europe, is occasionally found es caped from gardens in the Eastern United States. Lysimachia yunetata and Lysimachia the latter from Japan, are grown in gardens for their flowers, those of the latter being white. Various species of Steironema were formerly re ferred to this genus.