Purple Loosestrife 2 by

Purple Loosestrife

christopher_kos — 2013-11-18 15:15:53 UTC

Native Habitat

christopher_kos — 2013-11-18 15:17:08 UTC

Lythrum salicaria (Purple Loosestrife) is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae, native to Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and southeastern Australia.

andrea_gibbons1 — 2013-11-18 15:19:14 UTC

Lythrum salicaria L. (Purple Loosestrife)

Where has it spread?

christopher_kos — 2013-11-18 15:21:13 UTC

The purple loosestrife has been introduced into temperate New Zealand and North America where it is now widely naturalized and officially listed in some controlling agents.

Problem

william_gadd14 — 2013-11-18 15:21:53 UTC

When Purple Loosestrife makes its way into a wetland it can suppress the natural plant community and alter the environment's structure. Purple Loosestrife threatens endangered plants and animals by killing off food and cover.

http://www.invasiveplants.net/plants/purpleloosestrife.htm

What is the species niche?

andrea_gibbons1 — 2013-11-18 15:23:56 UTC

The Purple Loosestrife doesn't necessarily have a niche, but the way it can spread it pretty remarkable to its survival. It can survive up to 20 days underwater which makes its invading properties even more destructive.

Reproduction

andrea_gibbons1 — 2013-11-18 15:24:10 UTC

Purple Loosestrife can reproduce by seed. The small seeds are easily dispersed by moving water, wind, waterfowl, and humans. Each plant can produce up to 2.5 million seeds. This weed can also reproduce from root fragments.

Purple Loosestrife

christopher_kos — 2013-11-18 15:25:57 UTC

How does it spread?

christopher_kos — 2013-11-18 15:27:03 UTC

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.

christopher_kos — 2013-11-18 15:31:42 UTC

Solution

william_gadd14 — 2013-11-19 14:43:32 UTC

No effective method has been developed to control the spread of purple loosestrife unless it is in a very small area. Removing the plant and all vegetative parts of the plant has been the only way to control it in small areas. Water level manipulation, burning, cutting, and using herbicides are other methods that have been used, but none of these methods have been successful. All of these methods are costly and in the case of herbicides are harmful to other plants.

http://www.invasiveplants.net/plants/purpleloosestrife.htm