Taxonomy
Family: Primulaceae
Habitat
Open swamps and wet soil. Also occurs in bogs and fens.
Associates
Distribution
Eastern Canada and New England, south to GA, and west to IA and MN. Also occurs in the Northwest and adjacent Canada.
Morphology
Smooth, perennial herb from stoloniform rhizomes. Leaves opposite, narrow, punctate; long bulbets develop late in the season in leaf axils. Flowers yellow, numerous, in a terminal raceme.
Notes
Flowers June to August.
Wetland indicator: Obligate
A sterile hybrid occurs between this and L. thyrisiflora and has been named L. x commixta Fernald. It can be distinguished from L. terrestris by having racemes borne from the middle leaf axils. This hybrid might be applicable to the plants pictured here as they appear to have axial racemes.
The specific epithet means "on land", which is an interesting choice considering this plant is always found near water and often in standing water. It may refer to the roots which lie close to or on the soil surface.
The authority "BSP" stands for Britton, Sterns and Poggenb.
Bibliography
Gleason, Henry A.
and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY.
Swink, F. and G.
Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
Michael Hough © 2009 |