PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE |
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Flowers: |  |
 Purple
to magenta in colour in long, thin spike at end of stem. Clusters of flowers
grow in tight rings around the stem with a pair of leaves below each ring.
Individual flowers are one to two centimetres wide, with five to six petals.
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| Blooming Period: | |
Late June into September. | |
| Leaves: | |
Usually
in pairs opposite each other on a four-sided (square) stem. Leaves sit perpedicular
to the next ones above. Leaves long,narrow and smooth-edged; attach directly
to the stem. Foliage may be hairy. Sometimes leaves may alternate up the
stem or grow in bunched whorls.
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| Roots: | |
 Perennial.
Woody taproot with numerous fibrous side shoots that form a dense mat. |
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| Habitat: | |
Moist soil to shallow water sites. Can be found in a variety of conditions, such as wet meadows and pastures, marshes, stream and river banks, lake shores and ditches. Established plants can tolerate dry conditions. Sometimes planted in gardens. |  |
Growth: | |
Upright, semi-woody, hardy perennial with a dense bushy growth of 1 to 50 stems. The stems grow up to two metres high and may branch. |
| Seed: | |
A mature plant can produce up to 2.7 million seeds annually. Seeds are as small as grains of sand. They are easily spread by water, wind, wildlife and humans. Seeds germinate the following season or can lay dormant for several years before sprouting. |  |
Seed Capsule: | |
As flowers begin to drop off, capsules containing many tiny seeds appear in their place. In the Thunder Bay area, plants generally start to go to seed in mid-August. |
| Back to Purple Loosestrife page
Report
a purple loosestrife growing site: |
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Lakehead Region Conservation Authority |
