Spike Loosestrife.Lysimachia stricta.
Found in moist lands and fields, in July.
The stalk, from 12 to 18 inches in height, is branching near the top, leafy, and smooth, but grooved beneath the branches; it is hollow, and has a stiff fibre; pale yellow-green.
The long and narrow oval leaf is sometimes 2 and 3 inches long and only ½ an inch in width; its texture is thin, its surface very smooth, and the margin entire. The color is a light yellow-green. The leaves clasp the stalk in pairs, which occur at right angles to each other, and are near together.
The flowers are about half an inch across, otherwise in color and shape exactly resemblingL. quadrifolia; they are set on inch long stems, and arranged in irregular rings about the stalk, forming a noticeable feathery spike, 5 or 6 inches in length.
The blossoms open first at the bottom of the spike, several rings flowering at one time. The branches occur in pairs, symmetrically.