Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a perennial plant found in a range of wet soil habitats. It was probably introduced to North America as a contaminant in ship ballast and as an herbal remedy for dysentery, diarrhea, and other digestive ailments.

What is purple loosestrife? 

Purple loosestrife is a wetland perennial, three to seven feet tall, with up to 50 stems topped with purple flower spikes that bloom from July to September, then releasing thousands of seeds per plant. Stems are 4-6 sides with noticeable edges.  One prominent leader stem but many side branches often make the plant look bushy. Clipped plants grow back and cut stems readily re-root in the soil to produce new plants. With alarmingly fast reproduction rates, purple loosestrife can out-compete native vegetation in wetlands. Proliferation of the purple loosestrife is often associated with diversity loss of vegetation. This overall decreases ecological interactions in these patches of environment, and affects how animals nest for shelter, find food, and even reproduce. Many areas of the state use safe biocontrol beetles that feed on the loosestrife to keep it in check and allow other plants to grow.

What we are doing?  

As of now, Purple Loosestrife has not been identified here at Wheeler. However, still be on the lookout and survey your shoreline regularly. If you are visiting another waterbody, check out this link to see if they have purple loosestrife.