Appearance
"Lythrum salicaria" is a herbaceous perennial plant, that can grow 1–2 m tall, forming clonal colonies 1.5 m or more in width with numerous erect stems growing from a single woody root mass. The stems are reddish-purple or red to purple and square in cross-section. The leaves are lanceolate, 3–10 cm long and 5–15 mm broad, downy and sessile, and arranged opposite or in whorls of three.The flowers are reddish purple, 10–20 mm diameter, with six petals and 12 stamens, and are clustered tightly in the axils of bracts or leaves; there are three different flower types, with the stamens and style of different lengths, short, medium or long; each flower type can only be pollinated by one of the other types, not the same type, thus ensuring cross-pollination between different plants. The flowers are visited by many types of insects, and can be characterized by a generalized pollination syndrome.
The fruit is a small 3–4 mm capsule containing numerous minute seeds. Flowering lasts throughout the summer. When the seeds are mature, the leaves often turn bright red through dehydration in early autumn; the red colour may last for almost two weeks. The dead stalks from previous growing seasons are brown.
"L. salicaria" is very variable in leaf shape and degree of hairiness, and a number of subspecies and varieties have been described, but it is now generally regarded as monotypic with none of these variants being considered of botanical significance. The species "Lythrum intermedium" Ledeb. ex Colla is also now considered synonymous.
Naming
The purple loosestrife has been introduced into temperate New Zealand and North America where it is now widely naturalised and officially listed in some controlling agents. Infestations result in dramatic disruption in water flow in rivers and canals, and a sharp decline in biological diversity as native food and cover plant species, notably cattails, are completely crowded out, and the life cycles of organisms from waterfowl to amphibians to algae are affected.A single plant may produce up to 2.7 million tiny seeds annually. Easily carried by wind and water, the seeds germinate in moist soils after overwintering. The plant can also sprout anew from pieces of root left in the soil or water. Once established, loosestrife stands are difficult and costly to remove by mechanical and chemical means.
Plants marketed under the name "European wand loosestrife" are the same species despite the different name. In some cases the plants sold are sterile, which is preferable.
In North America, purple loosestrife may be distinguished from similar native plants by its angular stalks which are square in outline, as well by its leaves, which are in pairs that alternate at right angle and are not serrated.
Distribution
Native to Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and southeastern Australia.
Habitat
Found in ditches, wet meadows and marshes and along sides of lakes.
Uses
It has been used as an astringent medicinal herb to treat diarrhea and dysentery; it is considered safe to use for all ages, including babies. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens, and is particularly associated with damp, poorly drained locations such as marshes, bogs and watersides. However, it will tolerate drier conditions. The flowers are showy and bright, and a number of cultivars have been selected for variation in flower colour, including:-⤷ 'Atropurpureum' with dark purple flowers
⤷ 'Brightness' with deep pink flowers
⤷ 'Feuerkerze' with rose-red flowers has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit
⤷ 'Happy' with red flowers on a short stem
⤷ 'Purple Spires' with purple flowers on a tall stem
⤷ 'Roseum Superbum' with large pink flowers.
It has also been introduced in many areas of North America by bee keepers, due to its abundance of flowers which provide a large source of nectar.
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