Grass-leaved loosestrife

Steironema gramineum Greene, Leafl. Bot. Observ. Crit. 2: 109. 1910

Stems erect, simple or, some-times, branched apically, 0.8-2(-3.5) dm, glabrous; rhizomes slender; bulblets absent. Leaves opposite; petiole absent; blade linear, 2.8-7.5 × 0.1-0.6 cm, base cuneate, not decurrent, margins entire, plane, ciliolate for at least basal 2 mm (cilia 0.2-0.8 mm), apex acute, surfaces not punctate, glabrous; venation single-veined. Inflorescences axillary in distal leaves, solitary flowers. Pedicels 0.5-1.6 cm, glabrous. Flowers: sepals 5, calyx usually not streaked, 3-7 mm, glabrous, lobes lanceolate, margins thin; petals 5, corolla yellow with reddish base, not streaked, rotate, 3.5-7 mm, lobes with margins slightly erose apically, apex apiculate, eglandular; filaments distinct, shorter than corolla; staminodes 0.4-0.7 mm. Capsules 2-3.5 mm, not punctate, glabrous. 2n = 34.

Flowering summer. Sandy meadows, rocky stream banks; of conservation concern; 300 m; Ala.

V. J. Coffey and S. B. Jones (1980) described the leaves of Lysimachia graminea as petiolate (petioles 1-4 cm) with a cuneate to tapering base. Specimens examined for this flora did not exhibit distinctive petioles. The cuneate base of the leaf blade extends to the stem and renders the petiole obscure. Thus, the leaves are here considered all sessile.