Common name: Spoonleaf Yellow Loosestrife (USA - Hawaii), ocean primrose, hama-bossu [coastal hossu] (Japan)
Lysimachia mauritiana Lam. APNI* Synonyms: Lysimachia spathulata (Vent.) Schouw APNI*
Lubinia lineariloba (Hook. & Arn.) Pax APNI*
Lubinia lubinioides (Siebold & Zucc.) Pax APNI*
Lysimachia lineariloba Hook. & Arn. APNI*
Lysimachia nebeliana Gilg ex Gilg & Loes. APNI*
Lubinia spathulata Vent. APNI*
Lubinia mauritiana (Lam.) Spreng. APNI*
Lysimachia lubinioides Siebold & Zucc. APNI*
Description: Biennial or short-lived perennial herb; stolons stout, short; stems solitary or many, ascending to erect, 10–40 (–50) cm high, stout, terete, slightly fleshy, simple or shortly branched above, glabrous, minutely black-dotted (dotted with black glands). Young plants with rosette form.
Leaves alternate, lower leaves shortly petiolate, long-attenuate at base, mostly 2–5 cm long and 5–12 mm wide, upper leaves sessile or nearly so, shortly attenuate at base, mostly 1.5–2 cm long and 9–14 m wide; lamina slightly fleshy, glabrous, black glandular punctate, oblong-obovate, obovate or spathulate, apex subrounded or obtuse to subacute, midrib prominent, lateral veins obscure, margin entire, narrowly revolute; leaf bases persistent on stems after shedding of leaves, outer rims of petioles carried on as decurrent narrow ridges down stems (at least in dried material).
Racemes leafy, erect, terminal, often compound-paniculate, initially coniform, gradually elongating, many-flowered, 3–15 cm long, lower bracts spathulate, identical to leaves except for shorter petiole, gradually reduced upward (corymbose at flowering/raceme-like in fruit); pedicels 5–15 (–25) mm long, about as long as or slightly shorter than the leaf-like bracts, glabrous. Flowers 5-merous; calyx 3.5–5 mm long, deeply divided, lobes broadly lanceolate to elliptic (or ±oblong), with midrib, black glandular-punctate, margin membranous whitish-hyaline, apex subacute to obtuse; corolla white to pinkish, tube 2–3.5 mm long, petals 5–6 mm long, the lobes narrowly obovate or ligulate-oblong, (with a few glandular dots at obtuse apex).
Capsules globose-ovoid, yellow to reddish brown, 4–6 mm diam., lightly pitted, glabrous, stigma/style persistent, longitudinally dehiscing by valves, many-seeded.
Flowering: summer and autumn.
Distribution and occurrence: naturalised near the coast in the Coogee–Clovelly area of eastern Sydney; native to India, Indian Ocean Islands (including Mauritius, Reunion), Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan, the Ryukyus, Pacific Ocean Islands (including Hawaii, Philippines, New Caledonia). Habitat: coastal areas; found overseas on seashores, near beaches, on headlands; often growing in rock crevices and seepages; in N.S.W. recorded on an exposed coastal headland, near cliff edge in cracks and pockets of skeletal soil on sandstone (Clovelly population) and in wet seeps in sandstone on a rock platform and adjacent cliff face (Lurline Bay population).
NSW subdivisions: *CC
First naturalised record in N.S.W. was in 1981 from Lurline Bay. Established garden escape, which appears to be spreading. Evidence indicates human activity being the source of its introduction. For details on introduction see Kodela et al. (2014). Distinguished from other species of Lysimachia in N.S.W. by the slightly fleshy, often narrowly spathulate leaves, and flowers with white petals with apex acute to obtuse (petals more broadly rounded in L. fortunei; petals yellow in L. japonica and L. vulgaris var. davurica). Varieties are sometimes recognised. Formerly in Myrsinaceae.
Text by P.G. Kodela, P. Adam & B.M. Wiecek, May 2014
Taxon concept: P.G. Kodela, P. Adam & B.M. Wiecek, Cunninghamia 14: 89-95 (2014)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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