loosestrife
American Heritage Dictionary:
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loose·strife
(lūs'strīf') 
n.
n.
- Any of various plants of the genus Lysimachia, having usually yellow flowers.
- Any of various plants of the genus Lythrum, having purple or white flowers.
[Mistranslation of Latin lȳsimachīa (as if from Greek lusis, loosening + Greek makhē, battle), from Greek lūsimakheios, perhaps after Lūsimakhos, Lysimachos, Greek physician of the fifth or fourth century B.C..]
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
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loosestrife
Any ornamental plant of the family Lythraceae, especially in the genera Lythrum and Decodon, and Lysimachia of the family Myrsinaceae. Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), native to Eurasia, grows 26 ft (0.61.8 m) high on riverbanks and in ditches. Its branched stem bears whorls of narrow, pointed, stalkless leaves and ends in tall, tapering spikes of red-purple flowers. Introduced into North America early in the 19th century, it has become a noxious weed in many parts of the U.S. and Canada because its dense growth outcompetes native wetland vegetation that provides food and habitat for wildlife.
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Columbia Encyclopedia:
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loosestrife
loosestrife, common name for the Lythraceae, a widely distributed family of plants most abundant as woody shrubs in the American tropics but including also herbaceous species (chiefly of temperate zones) and some trees. Several shrubs of this family have been introduced in the United States as ornamentals and are now naturalized, e.g., the crape (or crepe) myrtle of China (Lagerstroemia indica) and the henna shrub, or mignonette tree (Lawsonia inermis). The latter, cultivated especially in Muslim countries, is the source of henna dye (from the leaves), oil and pomade scents (from the flowers), and a medicament (from the bark). The wild marsh plants called loosestrifes (genus Lythrum) include several native American species with pink or lavender flowers, but the tall, showy species that blankets moist meadows and swamps with magenta to purple flowers in late summer and autumn is the spiked loosestrife (L. salicaria), introduced from Europe and now so widespread as to be a weed. Several species of the unrelated family Primulaceae (primrose family) are also called loosestrife. True loosestrife is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Myrtales.
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Loosestrife
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Loosestrife is the common name of a number of different flowering plants. The species belong to two taxonomic genera, Lythrum, within the family Lythraceae, and Lysimachia, within the family Primulaceae.
The name derives from a literal translation of the genus name Lysimachia, derived from the name of an ancient king of Sicily, being analyzed as Greek λυσις, "loosening," and μαχη, "battle."
Lythrum species known as loosestrife include:
- Lythrum californicum (California loosestrife)
- Lythrum curtissii (Curtiss' loosestrife)
- Lythrum flagellare (Florida loosestrife)
- Lythrum hyssopifolia (hyssop loosestrife)
- Lythrum ovalifolium (low loosestrife)
- Lythrum portula (spatulaleaf loosestrife)
- Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
- Lythrum thymifolia (thymeleaf loosestrife)
- Lythrum tribracteatum (threebract loosestrife)
- Lythrum virgatum (European wand loosestrife)
- Lythrum alatum
Lysimachia species known as loosestrife include:
- Lysimachia ciliatum or Lysimachia ciliata(fringed loosestrife)
- Lysimachia clethroides (gooseneck loosestrife)
- Lysimachia quadrifolia (whorled loosestrife)
- Lysimachia vulgaris (garden or yellow loosestrife)
- Lysimachia punctata (yellow loosestrife)
- Lysimachia atropurpurea (burgundy loosestrife, a biennial variety)
- Lysimachia ephemerum (milky loosestrife)
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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