Flowers yellow, dotted red in the center. Flowers and leaves usually in whorls of 4, sometimes 3 or 6.
Leaves ovate with long-pointed tips.
Introduced from Europe. Lysimachia is a classical plant name. It comes from either the Greek lusimakhos , 'ending strife,' or from the name of a king of Thrace, Lysimakhos , or from both of these words. In 1898, the Essex Antiquarian printed an explanation. With the Revolution came the refusal to drink the tea of commerce, and our four-leaved loosestrife, being dried and steeped was used in its stead.