Transcript Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria)

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• Kingdom- Plantae
• Phylum-Magnoliophyta
• Class- Magnoliopsida
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• It’s from Europe and Asia
• It was distributed in the northeastern USA and
Canada.
• It was brought here in the 1800’s
• It was used for ornamental and medical uses.
• Found today in all 50 states except for Florida.
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• People used Purple Loosestrife by putting
it in some types of medicines.
• Since it was brought here to the USA for
medical purposes, scientists used this
plant in many medicines that we use
today.
• There are no consequences for humans.
Purple Loosestrife was
used in some itching
medicines
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• A change that was made in the ecosystem
by Lythrum Salicaria was that it became
very large
• It affected other organisms such as native
grass, sedges, and other flowering plants
because Purple Loosestrife would
overtake other plants.
a
leaf eating beetle
leaves
Root-mining weevil
Purple
Loosestrife
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• An adult Purple Loosestrife can produce
up to 3 million seeds a year.
• Out of those 3 million seeds, 60-70% of
them survive.
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• Herbicides may control the growth for all
Purple Loosestrifes.
• One trade-off is that the effect doesn’t last
that long on large populations and plants
that have been there for many years.
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• The average height of the plant is 5 feet.
• Blossoms every July through September.
• An adult Purple Loosestrife can produce
2.5 million to 2.7 million seeds yearly.