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Southern Winged Loosestrife

Lythrum lanceolatum

Found in pine savannas, pine flatwoods, blackland prairies, coastal prairies, marshes, swamps, other moist to wet places, ditches. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

65
Strong

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 88%

Height
Up to about 5 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to wet
Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
May to September

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves

Recorded in 5 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 6

Pine savannas

Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype
Sandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Pine flatwoods

Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer
Wet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Prairies and grasslands

Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020
Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Lythrum

  • Acronicta insularisHenry's Marsh Moth, Cattail Caterpillar
  • Actias lunaLuna Moth
  • Antheraea polyphemusPolyphemus Moth
  • Automeris ioIo Moth
  • Callosamia anguliferaTulip-Tree Silkmoth
  • Callosamia prometheaPromethea Silkmoth, Promethea Moth
  • Citheronia regalisRoyal Walnut Moth, Hickory Horned Devil
  • Eacles imperialisImperial Moth, Imperial Spiny Caterpillar
  • Eudryas unioPearly Wood-Nymph
  • Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
Show all 13
  • Melanchra assimilisBlack Arches
  • Morrisonia confusaConfused Woodgrain
  • Agonopterix lythrella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
25BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Lythrum

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lythrum

  • Coturnicops noveboracensisYellow Rail
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Lythraceae
Flower color
Pink or purple
Growing sources and scope
  • Bloom · “May to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Flower color · “Pink or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  • Height · “Up to about 5 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  • Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  • Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as

Lance Leaf Loosestrife; Lythrum alatum var. lanceolatum

Conservation status

Virginia rankS1
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources