PURPLE LOOSETRIFE

A BEAUTIFUL TROUBLEMAKER

By Oscar

WHAT IS A PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE?

•It has pretty purple flowers with a small yellow center.• It’s a weed that can grow 6feet tall•One plant has 7.5million seeds.• It is a perennial.

WHERE DOES PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE COME FROM? HOW DID IT GET TO THE GREAT LAKES?

It was growing in Europe in wetlands.European settlers brought it for their gardensbut it escaped and started spreading.

HOW IT IS HARMFUL

It crowds out a farmer’s crops and fields. It destroys an important habitat -a wetland. It hurts plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, fish and amphibians.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

It cost millions of dollars every year.It costs money to remove it and it invades farmers’ crops and pasture land.

WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN TO MANAGE THIS ORGANISM?Telling people about the problems.Where there aren’t too many plants, dig them up or pull up by the roots.We can use a chemical to kill large infestations.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO PROTECT THE FURTHER SPREAD OF THIS ORGANISM?Biological control and chemical control.Telling people about the problem.When plants are pulled, put them in bags for proper disposal.

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THIS SPECIES?It looks like a good flower but it is a bad flower. The purple loosestrife can hurt other plants and animals. I think using the Galerucella bug to stop it is a good idea.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1 Nab the aquatic invaderhttp://www.iiseagrant.org/NabInvader/Lakes/suspects/suspect_purple.html 3/8/13