Who doesn’t love roadside wildflowers? This time of year, splashes of pink, white, yellow, and purple brighten up the landscape, and for the horticulturally inclined, the temptation to grab a shovel and a bucket and take a few plants home to the garden is hard to resist.

One of the more eye-catching of these roadside plants poses a serious threat to native plants and wildlife, however. Purple loosestrife first arrived in the U.S. in the early 1800s, a hitchhiker in the ballast of European ships. Since that time, the showy, magenta-flowered perennial has spread widely throughout the northeast – and wildly. A highly aggressive invader, loosestrife produces millions of seeds, and can also spread from its root system. Though beautiful, when loosestrife moves into a wetland, it crowds out native plants, and makes the habitat less hospitable for native wildlife (particularly ducks). In places where loosestrife is well-established, this results in lower biodiversity – and can also negatively impact hunting and trapping opportunities. Though it does provide a nectar source for bees, the detrimental impacts of this plant far outweigh any benefits.

You can help wildlife by not transplanting purple loosestrife, and by digging it up on your own property if it’s already there. Clipping the flowering heads off will also help reduce the spread of seeds, but please – don’t compost them. Instead, bag up flowers and let them wilt completely before disposal. To learn more about purple loosestrife and other invasive plants that threaten wildlife, waters, recreation, visit the Maine Natural Areas Program’s website,www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap.

Amanda Devine

Pownal