Phryma leptostachya aka Lopseed

Phryma leptostachya is known as lopseed or American lopseed. It is a perennial, a plant that lives for years. It belongs to the Phrymaceae family. Kew places its native range in central and eastern North America. That range includes Canada and the United States. It also includes Coahuila in Mexico. Plants For A Future lists parts of Asia too. The two sources thus differ on its range. The RHS says it is not native to Britain or Ireland.

Plants For A Future gives its height as 1.3 feet [0.4 metres]. It gives no spread or wider range of sizes. The plant grows in woods and thickets. The same source lists woods across Japan as its habitat. These sites include hills and lower parts of mountains. Its life in woods suggests a place in shaded gardens. The accounts give no details of its leaves or stems. They do not describe its fruit either.

Plants For A Future gives July to September as its bloom time. Each flower has both male and female organs. The evidence names no animals that pollinate the flowers. It does not say whether any animals do so. It gives no flower colour, shape, or scent. The long bloom time is one of few known traits of garden interest. Plants For A Future suggests woodland gardens and shaded edges.

The guidance points to moist soil and part shade. Plants For A Future lists sand, loam, and clay as suitable soils. It lists mildly acid, neutral, and mildly alkaline soil too. Yet the source says it knows little about growing this plant. It suggests light shade in woods, not tested steps for growing it. It does not confirm that the plant is hardy in Britain. It suggests outdoor growth may work, based on the reported range. The evidence gives no hardiness zone. It gives no details of pests or diseases.

Plants For A Future lists no known food uses. It reports no known hazards, but that does not prove safety. It describes past uses of the roots as medicine. People used root gargles for sore throats. They drank root drinks for fever and rheumatism. They used root poultices, or packs, for skin complaints too. These past uses do not prove benefit or safe treatment. The source also mentions use to kill insects. It gives no method or further details.