Starflower

Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.

Scientific name: Trientalis borealis Raf.; also Lysimachia borealis (Raf.) U. Manns & A. Anderb.

Common name(s): starflower

Links: USDA PLANTS Profile , NPIN Profile, Go Botany

Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)

Description:

– perennial

-primrose family

-spreads by creeping rhizomes

-leaves are:

  • simple
  • whorled
  • entire to finely toothed

– typically has 7 petals, but can range 5-10

– generally flowers spring to mid-June in ME

– generally fruits June to August in ME

Habitat:

-deciduous and coniferous forests

-shaded moist woods

-successional old fields

-also can thrive in dry, sandy, acidic soils

Agriculture:

-pollinated by native bees

Natural History:

-its Latin name means “one third of a foot” which corresponds to its average height

 

Source(s):

Hansen, R.W., S.B. Hansen and E.A. Osgood. 1991. Reproductive phenologies of selected flowering plants in eastern Maine forests. ME Agric. Exp. Station Tech. Bull. 143. 17 pp.

Heinrich, B. 1976. Flowering phenologies: Bog, woodland, and disturbed habitats. Ecology. 57(5):890-899.

Stritch, Larry. “Starflower (Trientalis Borealis Raf.).” Plant of the Week, U.S. Forest Service, www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/trientalis_borealis.shtml.