Northern Starflower
Northern Starflower
Lysimachia borealis
Also known as: starflower · star flower · american starflower
Plantae
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
Perennial
Size
Small
Diet
Photosynthetic
Biome
Temperate forest
Range
North America
Movement
Sessile
Breeding
Seeds
Defense
Camouflage
Status
Common

About

A dainty woodland wildflower with a single whorl of pointed leaves atop a thin stem, from which one or two star-shaped white flowers rise on hair-thin stalks. Unlike most flowers, its petals typically come in sets of seven, an unusual break from the four- or five-petal norm common across most plants.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    seed
    A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
  2. 2.
    sprout
    A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
  3. 3.
    sapling
    A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
  4. 4.
    mature
    Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida
Order
Ericales
Family
Primulaceae
Genus
Lysimachia
Species
Lysimachia borealis