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Photographer: Janice Stiefel
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Family Lythraceae
Lythrum alatum Pursh var. alatum
winged loosestrife, winged lythrum
Lythrum: from Greek lythron meaning "blood," and alluding to the color of the flowers or to the reputed styptic (tending to contract or bind, tending to check bleeding) qualities of some species
alatum: with appendaged wings or flanges, usually the stems or leaf petioles
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| Status: | Native |
| Plant: | erect, perennial, 1'-4' tall forb, hairless, finely branched; stems 4 -angled |
| Flower: | purple, 6-parted, 1/4"-1/2" wide; solitary in the upper leaf axils; blooms July-Sept. |
| Fruit: | capsule |
| Leaf: | thick, rigid, stalkless, crowded on the branches and usually with only the lower leaves opposite |
| Habitat: | wet to moist; meadows, shores, shallows, prairies |
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