Purple Loosestrife

Lythrum salicaria

COMMON NAMES

• Purple Loosestrife
• Rainbowweed
• Spiked Loosestrife

Purple loosestrife - a perennial herb growing to 5 feet tall. The stem is squarish; the leaves are narrow and lance-shaped, and occur in pairs or in whorls of three. Rose to deep purple flowers (June-September) with four to six petals bloom in long spikes.

Here is a wildflower that motorists can enjoy from their cars. During the summer, vast vivid patches of purple loosestrife, with its long, showy spiked blossoms ranging in color from rose to red to deep purple (whence the common name rainbowweed), are seen from roads and highways near riverbanks, in wet meadows, and in other marshy areas in the Atlantic Coast states and as far west as Minnesota.

Purple loosestrife is one of the most interesting wild plants, as Charles Darwin and other naturalists and botanists discovered. Purple loosestrife has three different forms of flower, but only one type of bloom appears on anyone plant.

Mankind has taken notice of loosestrife since antiquity. The Greeks thought that garlands of the herb hung around the necks of oxen would encourage a team to plow a field in harmony. More practically, they used the plant in a hair dye and also burned it to drive away insect pests. Because purple loosestrife is rich in tannin, herbalists later employed it for its astringent values as an eyewash and as a remedy for diarrhea. They also used the herb to halt bleeding, a use that may explain its botanical name, Lythrum, from the Greek word for gore.

PARTS USED

Aerial parts.

USES

The astringent purple loosestrife is mainly employed as a treatment for diarrhea and dysentery. Purple loosestrife can be safely taken by people of all ages; some herbalists recommend purple loosestrife to help arrest diarrhea in breast-feeding babies. The herb may also be used to treat heavy menstrual bleeding and for intermenstrual bleeding. Externally, it is applied as a poultice or lotion to wounds, leg ulcers, and eczema, and used to treat excess vaginal discharge and vaginal itching. Purple loosestrife is now rarely used to treat eye problems, but, as Culpeper's experience suggests, purple loosestrife could be worth further investigation for disorders of the eyes and vision.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Purple loosestrife is native to Europe but is now well established in the wild in North America. Purple loosestrife thrives in marshes and along rivers and streams, to altitudes of 3,300 ft (1,000 m). Purple loosestrife is gathered when in flower, in summer.

CONSTITUENTS

Purple loosestrife contains salicarin, a glycoside (vitexin), tannins, a volatile oil, mucilage, and plant sterols.

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