Image of Purple Loosestrife

Description:

Slo.: navadna krvenka - Habitat: intermittent lake shore, marshland, frequently flooded terrain; calcareous, open ground; Karst region; full sun; elevation 550 m (1.800 feet); average precipitations 1.600-1.800 mm/year, average temperature 8-9 deg C, Dinaric phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil. Comment: Lythrum salicaria is Eurasian floral element and quite a common plant. It is widely distributed and extends from Great Britain to central Russia from near the 65th parallel to North Africa. It is also introduced to all other continents and is considered in USA a nonindigenous plant with large impact on native vegetation. One can find it from lowland to montane elevations in all regions of the Alps and other European mountains as well as on plains. It loves moisture and hence grows on wetland and along rivers and streams, ditches, lake shores and similar places. The plant is conspicuous, it can be well above 1 m tall, and has beautiful, intensely rose-purple colored inflorescences composed of many showy corollas up to 2 cm in diameter. No wonder, it is also used in horticulture and also as a medical plant. Its great ability to attract bees makes it important in production of honey. - Growing in large groups. Thousands of plants bloom around Cerknica lake every year. In average each one produces over 2,000.000 seeds annually (Ref.: 3). - Ref.: (1) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora fr sterreich, Liechtenstein und Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 422. (2) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 335. (3) https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/greatlakes/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=239 (accessed March 6. 2018) (4) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 1,2., Haupt (2004), p 958.