PURPLE LOOSETRIFE CONTROL: AN ENVIRONMENTAL SUCCESS STORY

PURPLE LOOSETRIFE FLOWER SPIKE

...WILLOW-LIKE LEAF

HERB GARDEN DOING NICELY

Tuesday, 9:00 AM.  71 degrees F at the ferry dock, 70 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with light gusts. The sky is partly cloudy, the humidity 88%.  The barometer is at 29.95" and falling rapidly, predicting the chance of thundershowers.  Today will be seasonally warm but it will subsequently cool off substantially.
   Buddy needed a run so we went to the beach before breakfast; details in tomorrow's post.

   The little herb garden in the back yard has matured into a nice, very private sitting area in the back yard.  Eventually the large Alberta spruce trees, that were supposed to be dwarfs, will have to be removed, and the big tamarack pruned drastically, but for a few more years at least it will continue to be beautiful.

   Purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria, in the Loosestrife Family, the Lythraceae, is a perennial plant native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa that has been used as a garden ornamental plant in Europe and America for many years. The species name refers to the plant's leaves, which resemble those of the willow (salix). The plant also has medicinal qualities as a safe astringent.   It is quite attractive,  but unfortunately spreads readily by seeds and plant parts and is very invasive, particularly in wetlands, where it competes with cattails and other native wetland plants that are valuable to wildlife. It also grows so profusely that it can clog waterways and impede the flow of water.   Consequently it was declared a noxious invasive plant many years ago in Wisconsin and most other states.

   Purple loosestrife can be controlled by mechanical means (digging and disposing of he plants) and by chemicals (primarily Roundup), but those controls are expensive and problematic.  In 1994 in Wisconsin,  the Galerucella beetle, which feeds exclusively on purple loosestrife, was introduced from Europe to control it.  Several other weevils also feed exclusively on this invasive, and are also used in its biological control.  

   The Galerucella beetle has been distributed free of charge to citizen volunteers, who raise and distribute the beetles and monitor loosestrife populations, with supervision by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.  This program has been amazingly successful, and today purple loosestrife is basically under control in the state.  Wetlands and other areas that once were overrun by this invasive plant are now mostly free of it, and the occasional loosestife bloom is nothing more than an accent among the native plants.

   Purple loosestrife control is an environmental success story, a successful program  of cooperation between between scientists,  governmental agencies, and citizen volunteers that has efficiently and economically solved a real-world ecological problem.