What Does Purple Loosestrife Do?
This perennial plant produces vegetation up to eight feet tall, from rootstocks, two to three feet in diameter. From its multiple stems, it produces seeds, as many as 2 million from a single mature plant. These seeds, about the size of a grain of sand, blow and/or float to new areas where they absorb water, germinate, and grow. Prolific seed production, and the long life of the root crown, allows Purple Loosestrife to become a very dense monoculture. Purple Loosestrife provides no nutritive value to native insects, animals, or fish. Purple Loosestrife causes bird, fish and amphibian populations to decline when their native food species and nesting sites are eliminated by the presence of this plant. As time progresses, Purple Loosestrife effects the flow, temperature, and nutrient loads of the water, continuing to damage the necessary survival components of the flora and fauna in our wetlands. Recreation, agriculture, and public uses of our waterways suffer when this plant blocks access
