Grass-poly or Lythrum hyssopifolia was in the news the other day:
“A rare plant that vanished from a farmland pond more than a century ago has ‘come back from the dead’. Delighted conservationists found the pinkish-flowered species, known as grass-poly, growing in rural Norfolk by a neglected waterhole. The stunning plant reappeared after seeds submerged in the mud were disturbed during work to restore the pond.“
Thanks are due for the information found on various websites (mainly Wikipedia, R.B.G. Kew Plants of the World Online, etc) and books for which I provide links. There is colour coding for easy reading. Blue and yellow for general interest, green for wildlife and other uses and pink where there are medicinal uses or warnings. All pictures are by Matt Summers otherwise mentioned.
Lets have a look at this plant and the rest of its family!
Contents:
The Lythraceae or Loosestrife family
Lythrum hyssopifolia or Grass-poly
L. junceum or False Grass-poly
