It was introduced here as a garden flower, but has escaped into wild areas. Because it is not native to this area, it nas no natural enemies and provides little or no habitat value to fish or wildlife. Loosestrife is very prolific and can overtake wetland areas, replacing valuable native plants like sedges and bulrushes.
Purple loosestrife is a perennial herb with tough stems growing in a clump up to six feet tall.
The stems are typically square, with lance-shaped, three to four inch long leaves. The flowers are a bright magenta to deep purple, arranged in dense spikes at the tops of the stems. Purple loosestrife can overtake wet areas such as lake shores, streambanks, and marshes, crowding out native plants and reducing habitat diversity. It can seriously impact a wetland area in just a few seasons, as each mature plant will produce over a million seeds. In addition, the plant can resprout from a small part of a root or stem.