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Purple Loosestrife

Lythrum salicaria

Plant Description

A perennial with a woody crown and stiff, 4-sided stems. Leaves opposite or whorled, small magenta flowers with 5-7 petals on tall showy spikes.

Plant Details

Life Forms
Habitats
ODA Listing
Soil and Moisture Conditions
Suggested Actions
Shade Preference
Mature Height 6-10'
Distribution Found throughout the Pacific Northwest, in California and northeastern US.
Control Small infestations can be dug up being sure to remove roots, monitor and repeat as needed.
Disposal Methods Plant parts can resprout. Seal in plastic bags and dispose in landfill.
Reproduction and Spread Reproduces by seed and spreads by stem fragments. One plant can produce over 2 million seeds.
Introduced Introduced to the east coast of the US in the 1800s from Eurasia as an ornamental and in ships' ballast.
Look Alikes spirea, checkermallow, fireweed
Impact Can quickly adapt to environmental changes and expand its range to replace native plants that waterfowl use for ground cover, food or nesting material. Provides no cover for nesting ducks (Timmerman 1992). Recreational hunting or trapping grounds are lost, decreasing the land value of operational Wetlands.
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