The majenta-colored whorls of flowers on a Purple Loosestrife
This plant may look a bit all by itself in an overgrown pasture, but it won’t be by itself for long. The Purple Loosestrife (Lythrium salicaria) is one of the most prolifically spreading plants in open, disturbed sites with moist soil and shallow standing water. Look for it in drainage ditches, depressions in the median strips of highways, and areas adjacent to shopping mall parking lots where water runoff collects. Purple Loosestrife simply out-competes other (more valuable for wildlife) plants for space. Through seeds and an aggressive root system Loosestrife forms dense stands that crowd out cat-tails, reeds, and grasses that birds and other wildlife need for nesting and feeding. As a result, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife lists Purple Loosestrife as an invasive species. It is a difficult plant to eradicate.
Field identification: 2- 5 feet tall; stems 4 sided and hairy; leaves opposire or in whorls of three, narrow, and lance-shaped; spikes of numerous magenta flowers in whorled clusters; blooms July-September.
