Purple Loosestrife

Purple Loosestrife growing in the countryside. (Credit: Steven Dewey

KEY FACTS

Purple-loosestrife can be found in wet habitats, such as reedbeds, fens, marshes and riverbanks, where its impressive spikes of magenta flowers rise up among the grasses.
It flowers between June and August, when its nectar becomes a valuable food source for long-tongued insects, such as Brimstone butterflies, Red-tailed Bumblebees and Elephant Hawk-moths.
Dense stands of purple loosestrife can threaten plant and animal diversity.
These weeds are tough! They can tolerate a wide range of weather conditions and will grow in standing water.
The seeds distribute through water, humans and animals, with a single plant producing over 2.5 million seeds that drop in early fall when temperatures cool.
They are vibrant in colour and can be spotted easily.

In the past, the government used purple loosestrife to control roadside erosion.