Starflower

Lysimachia borealis, in the Myrsine family, is a native plant to Minnesota, preferring the shade or dappled shade of moist, rich soil. Starflower blooms late May into June, about the same time as the red columbine, wild geranium, and yellow bluebead lily. Average height of the starflower plant is just 4 inches tall, with a range of between 2 to 8 inches. Look for the leaf margins (edges) to be smooth (no teeth) with the tip of each leaf ending in a point. Leaf tops are smooth and hairless.

Starflower usually has 7 petals and 7 stamens — but not always! This variability makes for a bit of a fun when coming across individual plants, for petal count ranges from 5 to 9. In early spring, this perennial sends up a main stem with a whorl of 5 to 7 leaves at the top, giving us another interesting variation, for each leaf is close to but not exactly the same size as its neighbor. From the center of the whorled leaf joint, 1 or 2 flower stalks arise. Each snow white petal ends in a pointed tip with rather longish, green sepals peeking in between — creating from the leaf whorls a kind of starflower universe nestling comfortably on each individual flower stalk. Groups of plants grow in dainty clusters spreading by their rhizomes season-to-season, thus colonizing across the forest floor.

Regardless of how many petals, each starflower shines out with the same attractive sort of invitation beguiling us to follow their constellations further and still further into the woods!