Lysimachia nummularia

Creeping Jenny is an introduced herbaceous perennial in the Primrose family (PRIMULACEAE). It is native to Europe. In Alabama it has been found as an escape in the northern half of the state. Creeping Jenny occurs in seeps, on the banks of ponds and streams, in roadside ditches, and in hardwood floodplain forests. It is a mat forming perennial from a slender rhizome. The stems are trailing and often root at the nodes. Stems are sparsely branched, green in color, and glabrous or stipitate glandular. The leaves are opposite, short petiolate, orbicular to ovate in outline, with entire margins. The surface of the leaf is reddish-brown punctate. Flowers are solitary from the axils of the leaves. Each flower has 5 glabrous sepals streaked with reddish-brown, and 5 yellow petals. The fruit is a capsule. Plants from North American apparently do not produce fruit, and plants from southern locations rarely flower. Creeping Jenny is commonly cultivated, and several selections are available. It aggressively spreads in favorable conditions and can be difficult to control. Creeping Jenny is listed as an invasive species in many areas of the United States.—A. Diamond