Beauty or Beast? Purple Loosestrife

If you see a tall, purple-flowering plant near the water with 4 to 6-sided stems and leaves that are lanceolate and opposite, you are looking at beauty that is actually a beast and needs to be weeded out!

A dense web of roots makes this otherwise attractive plant an intolerable invasive. Left unchecked, it can diminish wetland recreational values such as boating, fishing and hunting which may hurt local economies.

Wetlands are normally biologically diverse but not with this invasive plant, Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Shortly after getting a foothold, habitat where fish and wildlife feed, seek shelter, and reproduce and rear young, quickly becomes choked under a beautiful, but damaging, sea of purple flowers.

The best management period is July and August when the plant is in flower and easily recognized before going to seed. Try to not confuse native plants such as the Skull Cap (Scutellaria lateraflora), Douglas Spirea, (Spiraea douglasii), and Fireweed, (Chamerion angustifolium), for the Purple Loosestrife. These are similar-looking plants but are friendly and native to Washington State.

Refer to https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weeds/purple-loosestrife or call the Lewis County Noxious Weed Control Board at 360-740-1215 for more information to learn how to identify and help manage Purple Loosestrife.