Purple loosestrife crowds out native plants that provide food for wildlife.
Habitat: wet meadows, flood plains, wetlands, ditches
Life cycle: perennial
Growth Habit: usually 2- 4 feet tall, but may reach up to 10 feet in nutrient-rich habitats
Leaves: Opposite or whorled, 1.5-4 inches long with smooth margins, lacking petioles. Lower leaves have downy hairs and clasp the stem.
Stem: stiff, 4-sided, woody at the base
Inflorescence: July to early September. Long spikes of rose or purple flowers, each with 4-7 wrinkled petals.
Similar plants: Flowers of native loosestrife are more widely spaced along the stem than those of purple loosestrife.
The problem is.... purple loosestrife is a strikingly beautiful plant that has escaped from cultivation. (It is an introduced species.) This plant invades wetland habitats, crowding out native plants that are important food sources for wildlife. A single stalk of purple loosestrife can produce 300,000 seeds. Purple loosestrife also spreads vegetatively. Cultivated varieties of this plant, sold in nurseries, are supposedly less aggressive, but still may present a risk.
Purple loosestrife crowds out native plants that provide food for wildlife.
