BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Lysimachia minima
chaffweed
| Scientific Name: | Lysimachia minima (L.) U. Manns & Anderb. | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Anagallis minima
Centunculus minimus |
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| English Name: | chaffweed | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | LYSIMIN | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (May 2025) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4 (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 3 - Sensitive (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Chaffweed is a low, annual herb with prostrate or erect stems, 2-10 cm long, that root at the nodes. The alternate leaves, 5-10 mm long, are egg to spoon-shaped with entire margins. Foliage is glabrous. Solitary, inconspicuous flowers on short stalks occur in the leaf axils. Each flower has a deeply 4-lobed calyx, 2-3 mm long, and a small, pink, 4-lobed, tubular corolla, ca. 1 mm long, that withers on the maturing ovary. There are 4-5 stamens, and the fruit is a globose capsule that is ca. 2 mm long. | ||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Diagnostic Characteristics: | GLAUX MARITIMA is similar but has lower leaves that are opposite each other. | ||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Grassland/Shrub / Garry Oak Maritime Meadow / Facultative - frequent use
Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Facultative - frequent use Lakes / Pond/Open Water / Facultative - occasional use Other Unique Habitats / Beach / Facultative - frequent use Other Unique Habitats / Estuary / Facultative - frequent use Other Unique Habitats / Garry Oak Vernal Pool / Facultative - frequent use Riparian / Gravel Bar / Facultative - frequent use Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Facultative - occasional use Stream/River / Stream/River / Facultative - occasional use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | This taxon grows in moist to dry roadsides, ditches, disturbed meadows and wet disturbed areas, forest edges, pine savannas, pond margins, stream banks, and swales (FNA 2009, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2025). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
| Known Pests: | |||||||||||
| Pollen Vector: | |||||||||||
| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | This taxon is nearly cosmopolitan, occurring in Eurasia, South America, Africa, and in North America irregularly from Nova Scotia to British Columbia in Canada south throughout the United States to Mexico (FNA 2009). Range extent was estimated to be over 200 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1994 and 2025 (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, RARECAT 2025, SEINet 2025). | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | JM (1994), rev. Soteropoulos (2025) | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | May 29, 2025 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Penny. 2002. Rare Native Vascular Plants of British Columbia, 2nd ed. B.C. Conserv. Data Centre, Terrestrial Inf. Branch, Victoria. 358pp. |
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Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar, eds. 1999. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Vol. 4, Dicotyledons (Orobanchaceae through Rubiaceae). B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, and B.C. Minist. For., Victoria. 427pp. |
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Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2009. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 8. Magnoliophyta: Paeoniaceae to Ericaceae. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 585 pp. |
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Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2025. Flora of the southeastern United States Web App. Edition of February 18, 2025. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Online. Available: https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu (accessed 2025). |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2025. Species Summary: Lysimachia minima. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 5, 2026).