Purple Loosestrife
Description:
An erect stem with a spike
of purple-pink flowers above opposite or whorled, unstalked leaves.
Flowers:
1/2-3/4" wide; petals
4-6, wrinkled; stamens as many or twice as many as petals; flowers of
3 types, each with different stamen and pistil lengths.
1 1/2-4" long, lanceolate
to linear, rounded to heart-shaped at base, stalkless.
Fruit:
Height:
2-4'.
Flowering:
June-September.
Habitat:
Wet meadows, floodplains,
and roadside ditches.
Comments:
This showy, magenta-flowered
perennial, a European introduction, may cover acres of wetlands, providing
a truly spectacular sight. Classified as a noxious weed in many states,
it is an aggressive species and tends to crowd out native aquatics valuable
to waterfowl and other wildlife.