purple loosestrife
Lythrum salicaria
A single mature plant can produce over two million seeds each year, which can remain dormant in the soil for years.
- Scientific name
- Lythrum salicaria
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Myrtales › Lythraceae › Lythrum
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- increasing
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Wetlands, marshes, floodplains, lake shores, and damp ditches.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic (sunlight, water, and soil nutrients)
- Range
- Europe, Asia, North America, Australia
- Size
- 1 to 2.5 meters tall
- Lifespan
- Perennial (individual roots can survive for decades)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Eradication campaigns and biological control agents (such as Galerucella beetles) in its invasive range.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless to touch. However, this is a highly invasive species in North America. Avoid walking through patches when seeds are ripe to prevent spreading them on clothing or boots. If removing, extract the entire root system to prevent resprouting.
Lythrum salicaria ( purple loosestrife ) is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae. Other names include spiked loosestrife , or purple lythrum .
Photo: Paul Roots, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
Plain-text version: /species/2ad0cd8c-a665-470a-a26d-1ae9ffd5e883.md