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Field Guide to Noxious and Other Selected Weeds of British Columbia

Purple Loosestrife
(Lythrum salicaria)

  • Regional Noxious Weed

  • wetland perennial with a woody taproot and branching fibrous root system; 1 to 3 metres in height; stiff, four-sided stem with opposite or sometimes whorled stalkless leaves; purple flowers in a dense terminal spike

  • can produce over 2.5 million seeds annually

  • sometimes confused with fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium); many infestations have resulted from escape of ornamental varieties
Purple flowers produced on terminal spikes

Photo courtesy BC Ministry of Forests
Fireweed
Seed-bearing spikes

More information about purple loosestrife (Weeds BC)

Purple Loosestrife Weed Alert

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