![]() ![]() If all the patches were put together, they would only cover about 15 acres. Over 1,000 sites of purple loosestrife were surveyed in 2017, but many of those are small. It is found on about 30 lakes in the county, including all three of the large lakes, four of the large rivers, many creeks, ponds, wet ditches, and numerous other sites. In King County, purple loosestrife is our most abundant regulated aquatic noxious weed. Watson’s willow-herb is a native plant in Washington that looks similar to young purple loosestrife plants. None of the look-alikes have the combination of square stems, untoothed leaf edges, opposite leaves, perennial roots, and tightly packed flower spikes that are found on purple loosestrife plants. The plants that are most often confused with purple loosestrife that are native to Washington include Douglas spirea ( Spiraea douglasii), fireweed ( Chamaenerion angustifolium), and Watson’s willow-herb ( Epilobium ciliatum ssp. Identifying purple loosestrife is sometimes challenging because of several similar species that flower at the same time. You may want to notify beekeepers in the area before controlling purple loosestrife, or wait until the majority of the flowers have faded before controlling. Purple loosestrife is popular with honey producers. Purple loosestrife stems have 4 to 6 sides and leaves are narrow with untoothed edges, arranged opposite or in whorls. Purple loosestrife flowers have 5 to 7 narrow petals and are attached right to the stem. Purple loosestrife is a tall perennial usually with multiple flowering stems from a single woody base. Purple loosestrife grows mostly in wet areas such as shorelines or marshes, but it can survive in gardens or on roadsides as well. The leaves attach directly to the main stem and are arranged opposite or whorled on the stem. The stems are 4-6 sided, especially on the newer growth, and the leaves are long and narrow with untoothed edges. Purple loosestrife is a tall, multi-stemmed perennial with narrow spikes densely packed with small magenta or purple flowers. Purple loosestrife seeds are carried by ducks and other aquatic animals to new wetlands and lakes. In wetlands, purple loosestrife can grow so densely that it excludes native plants and fills in open water habitat. It can also clog up waterways and increase flooding. Purple loosestrife does not play well with other plants and can completely dominate the areas it invades. Unfortunately, dense populations of purple loosestrife significantly reduce the habitat quality of wetlands and shorelines for waterfowl, amphibians, fish and other critters. ![]() Vigorous perennial roots and rhizomes combined with incredibly prolific seed production result in one of the most successful invasive plants we have on this continent. In July, the flowers start to open on the lower parts of the spikes first, followed by the upper flowers.Īlthough it is perhaps one of the prettiest noxious weeds, purple loosestrife ( Lythrum salicaria), is widely recognized throughout North America as a highly invasive and damaging weed in wetlands and along shorelines. Lastly, conditions in our gut promote or suppress certain species, as do soil conditions like pH and oxygenation.Purple loosestrife flowers are quite lovely. In some cases, gut microbes might protect us from certain diseases or disorders in soils, some colonize plant roots and prevent infectious, disease-causing microbes from gaining access. Our gut microbes can be thrown out of balance or repressed by medication in soils, by pesticides and excessive fertilization. They help us digest food and extract nutrients soil microbes digest organic matter into plant-useful nutrients, plus help plants absorb those nutrients and moisture. ![]() It might be easier to conceptualize using parallels with human gut microbes. Without magnification, we can only see a tiny fraction of what’s living in the soil, so it’s easy to forget just how important they are as a group. Organic matter in the soil comes from the breakdown of dead plants and animals it’s the main food of the microbe population, which itself forms the vast bulk of the types of soil life. The abundance and diversity of these organisms forms the foundation for soil health. We say soil has “health” because it’s composed of an incredible number of living things in addition to the rocky minerals it originally eroded from. ![]()
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