Northern starflower

Description

Lysimachia borealis (synonym Trientalis borealis), the starflower, is a North American woodland perennial that blooms between May and June. Starflowers have creeping rhizomes with 20 cm (8 in) vertical stalks. Each stalk has a whorl of 5-9 lanceolate leaves at its tip, with one or two white flowers on smaller stalks extending from the center of the whorl. The flowers are about 15 mm (1⁄2 in) across and consist of five to nine petals that form a star-like shape. Starflower is listed as endangered by Georgia and Kentucky and is listed as threatened by Illinois and Tennessee. Trientalis is a genus of perennial floral plants widespread in the wooded areas with a boreal climate of North America and Eurasia. Two North American species belong to the genus (T. borealis and T. latifolia, considered by some authors to be two subspecies of the same plant) and a Euro-Asian species (T. europaea), widespread mainly in Scandinavia, Belgium and the British archipelago. These are species indicative of wooded areas with a boreal climate, adapted to the low temperatures of this type of biome. They prefer open undergrowth areas and generally reproduce by means of creeping rhizomes; they bloom in early summer. No more than twenty centimeters high (hence the scientific name "trientalis" which in Latin means a "third of a foot" with reference to the Anglo-Saxon unit of measurement), they are all characterized by a stemerect and slender with, at the apex, a tuft of lanceolate leaves and a solitary white flower (sometimes 2 or 3) in the shape of a star (hence the common name in English of starflower), typically with 6-8 petals. The genus is included in the Primulaceae family according to the classical classification and in the Myrsinaceae family according to the most recent phylogenetic classification (APG classification). Some authors also divide T. borealis into two subspecies. In this case, the species classified as T. borealis Raf. ssp. borealis, is also joined by T. latifolia, classified as T. borealis Raf. ssp. latifolia, (Hook.) Hultén.