Purple Loosestrife

This appears to be purple loosetrife, but we are not certain. Purple loosestrife is a pretty plant that grows best in sun with regular moisture. Purple loose-strife is a wetland perennial that prefers open sunny areas and wet soils and while the flowers are on tall spikes, they exhibit in “whorls” much like this flower is doing. Plants may be found in wet meadows, floodplains, disturbed areas such as roadside ditches, along stream banks and around the edges of ponds, lakes and marshes. When mature (at three to five years) a single plant may be over three meters tall and produce as many as fifty stems. Leaves are blade-shaped, entire and oppositely arranged on the stems. The stems are usually square in cross-section, but may be five or six-sided. Leaves and stems may be (but are not always) covered with soft hairs. Plants form dense, woody rootballs (up to 50 cm in diameter) with a strong taproot. Purple loosestrife blooms during the summer. Its reddish-purple flowers, each with five to seven petals, are closely arranged on tall flower spikes. A mature plant may produce up to 2.5 million seeds per year. Seeds, which remain viable in the ground for at least five years, are as small as a grain of sand and are easily carried by wind, water, and passing animals, and may go undetected on muddy boots.