American Lopseed

Not a very common plant in the hills of Kashmir and Murree, grows in damp shady places and woods from 1000 to 2300 in.

Erect perennial herb with somewhat fleshy brownish root. Stem and branches quadrangular, articulated, lower portion puberulous-pilose, upper portion pilose especially at nodes. Leaves oval to elliptic ovate, coarsely serrate, acuminate, lower leaves abruptly narrowed at base with .1-3.5 cm long petiole and upper one: with 2-4 mm long petiole, lamina 3-10 cm long 1.5-5 cm broad, pilose hispid, 5-7 nerved. Inflorescence axillary and terminal spikes, 15-35 cm long, floral axis hispid. Flowers more commonly alternate, rarely opposite, sessile to sub-sessile. Bract linear minute¬ly hispid at the margin, 2-3 mm long, bracteoles minute. Calyx tubular, tube c. 4-5 mm long, sparcely hispid prominently 5 veined, bilabiate, the posterior 3 lobes subulate and hooked at the apex, c. 2 mm long, lower 2 short. Corolla bilabiate, 5-7 mm long, lower lip larger and spreading 3 fid, upper shortly bilobed, lobes rounded. Stamens inserted above the middle of the corolla tube, slightly excluded in fully opened flower; larger filament 1.5-2 mm long, shorter c. 1 mm long. Ovary oblong, less than 2 mm long; style 1, terminal, c. 2 mm long. Fruit enclosed by the per¬sistent deflexed calyx, c. 5 mm long, oblong, 5 nerved.

Distribution: North America, Canada, Japan, Nepal, India. and West Pakistan.

Fl. Per. May-July.

Flowering from May to July.

Phryma leptostachya is occurring in North America, Canada, Japan, China, Nepal, India, West Pakistan.

Phryma leptostachya is one species with a well-known classic intercontinental disjunct distribution between eastern Asia (EA) and eastern North America (ENA). Phylogenetic analysis of nuclear ribosomal ITS and chloroplast rps16 and trnL-F sequences revealed two highly distinct clades corresponding to EA and ENA. The divergence time between the intercontinental populations was estimated to be 3.68 ± 2.25 to 5.23 ± 1.37 million years ago (mya) based on combined chloroplast data using Bayesian and penalized likelihood methods. Phylogeographic and dispersal-vicariance (DIVA) analysis suggest a North American origin of Phryma leptostachya and its migration into Easter Asia via the Bering land bridge (Nei et al., 2006).

Erect perennial herb with somewhat fleshy brownish root. Stem and branches quadrangular, articulated, lower portion puberulous-pilose, upper portion pilose especially at nodes. Leaves oval to elliptic ovate, coarsely serrate, acuminate, lower leaves abruptly narrowed at base with 1-3.5 cm long petiole and upper one with 2-4 mm long petiole, lamina 3-10 cm long 1.5-5 cm broad, pilose hispid, 5-7 nerved. Inflorescence axillary and terminal spikes, 15-35 cm long, floral axis hispid. Flowers more commonly alternate, rarely opposite, sessile to sub-sessile. Bract linear minutely hispid at the margin, 2-3 mm long, bracteoles minute. Calyx tubular, tube ca. 4-5 mm long, sparcely hispid prominently 5 veined, bilabiate, the posterior 3 lobes subulate and hooked at the apex, ca. 2 mm long, lower 2 short. Corolla bilabiate, 5-7 mm long, lower lip larger and spreading 3 fid, upper shortly bilobed, lobes rounded. Stamens inserted above the middle of the corolla tube, slightly excluded in fully opened flower; larger filament 1.5-2 mm long, shorter ca. 1 mm long. Ovary oblong, less than 2 mm long; style 1, terminal, ca. 2 mm long. Fruit enclosed by the persistent deflexed calyx, ca. 5 mm long, oblong, 5 nerved.

Growing in damp shady places and woods; 1000-2300 m.

Phryma leptostachya, or lopseed, is a perennial herb of the genus Phryma. When distinguished from Phryma oblongifolia and Phryma nana, it is native to eastern North America.

The plant stands about 0.3 to 1.0 meters tall, and the inflorescences bear a number of small (4 mm) tube-shaped white to pink flowers.