Swamp Loosestrife
Decodon verticillatus
Water willow arches its long stems out over open water until the tips touch and root, building floating mats at pond margins. Whorls of magenta-pink flowers cluster in the upper leaf axils in late summer and are worked hard by bumblebees. Spongy submerged stem tissue keeps it afloat; vigorous enough to need a boundary.
- Family
- Lythraceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 6–8 ft
- Spacing
- 6–8 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- July, August, September
- Bloom colors
- pink, purple
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, butterflies, hummingbirds
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV