On Tue, 29 Aug 1995 sally.macias at deepcove.com wrote:

>
> Just what is "loosetrife" and why must it be removed? Past experience has has
> taught me to be a bit wary!
>
Purple loosestrife is an introduced plant that has no natural controls in
North America. It is listed as a noxious weed in most jurisdications,
due to its ability to convert virtually any damp/shallow water site into a
loosestrife monoculture. There is work being done on introducing
loosestrife specific herbivourous insects, but the groups using them feel
it may be 10-30 years before they have much impact. It spreads rapidly
using floating seeds.
Jim Neitzel
The Evergreen State College
neitzelj at elwha.evergreen.edu