About Lythrum alatum Pursh
Winged loosestrife (Lythrum alatum Pursh) is an upright, branching herbaceous plant that grows to about one metre tall. Its lower stems are woody, square in cross-section, and have slightly winged angles. Most leaves are opposite, stalk-less, broadly oblong, taper toward the tip, and have smooth, untoothed edges. Flowers grow singly or in pairs in the axils of the much reduced upper leaves. The calyx forms a tube about 0.6 millimetres long, with six pointed teeth. The six rose-pink petals, each marked with a magenta central vein, measure about 5 millimetres long and 2 millimetres wide. This species has six stamens with pink filaments and purple anthers; its stigma is white, its style is green, and it has a superior ovary. The fruit is an elongated capsule holding numerous tiny seeds. Winged loosestrife grows in wet meadows, fens, pond and lake margins, alongside streams, and near railroads.
