| Author | Elliott | |
| Distribution | Essentially in the southeastern part of the state, north to Craven County. However, there are a few records for southeastern VA, and thus it could occur in the eastern and northeastern Coastal Plain of NC. In 2018 a small population was photographed in Lee County by Jimmy Randolph (image attached here); it perhaps is not a natural occurrence.
This is a Southern species, ranging from southeastern VA, south to southern FL and west to southern TX. | |
| Abundance | Rare, in the southeastern portion of the state. This is a State Significantly Rare species. | |
| Habitat | This species seems to require somewhat "limey" soil, underlain by marl, growing in damp places in full sun or partial sun. It grows in ditches, damp fields and clearings, in fresh marshes, and openings in low woods. | |
| Phenology | Blooms from May to September, and fruits shortly after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is a stout, rather tall herb, growing to about 3-4 feet tall, with a few basal branches. The branches are virgate, coming off at roughly a 45-degree angle to the stem. The numerous leaves are opposite on the lower portions but alternate on the branches, lanceolate to elliptic, the lower ones about 2 inches long but ones on branches shorter. The flowers grow singly in upper leaf axils, each with 6 petals, equally spread apart, elliptical, pink in color, and a spread of about 2/5-inch across. The strongly virgate branches on the rather tall stem, and the 6-petalled pink flowers, should safely identify a plant to this or to the similar L. lineare in NC. That species has mostly opposite stem leaves and on the branches, and they are linear in shape, only about 1/8-inch wide; the leaves are mostly shorter than the internode distance between stem leaves. L. lanceolatum has the leaves alternate on the branches, though they can be opposite on the lower stem; the leaves are wider (often about 1/3-inch wide), and are mostly longer than the internodes. Also, L. lineare is a plant of brackish marshes, as opposed to damp ground in freshwater settings for L. lanceolatum. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Many or most references include this with the very wide-ranging L. alatum, typically as a variety -- L. alatum var. lanceolatum. Both Weakley (2018) and RAB (1968) have it split off, but NatureServe does not.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Winged Loosestrife -- the usual common name for L. alatum. Wing-angled Loosestrife, Winged Lythrum | |
| State Rank | S1 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | SR-T | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
