Purple plant disappearing from our view

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

Notice a less purple hue on the state's landscape these days?

That's because there is less purple loosestrife, that gorgeous but invasive species that chokes native plants and overtakes fragile wetlands.

Purple loosestrife (Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management)

Two tiny introduced European beetles have been chomping their way across the state, defoliating and weakening the plant to allow native plant species to compete against them. The tiny beetles are native to Europe where loosestrife hails from and were first imported to the U.S. in 1992 to control the weed. While it's difficult to measure how much loosestrife has declined from the beetle biocontrol, state officials - and some readers - say it's enough to be noticeable.

Massachusetts introduced the wee bugs in 2000 and since then, hundreds of thousands of beetles have been released at more than 35 sites. The beetles don't do any harm other than feed on the loosestrife, according to Beth Suedmeyer, who coordinates the Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol Project for the state Office of Coastal Zone Management.

It takes about three years for the beetles to take hold in an area and Suedmeyer says there is some evidence they are beginning to spread 10 to 20 miles from where they have been released.

Feeding beetles

"We are not going to ever lose all of our loosestrife but it’s a way to keep native plants competitive,'' said Suedmeyer. She said purple loosestrife is blooming now so people will be seeing it soon - or noticing its disappearance.

Here's a link to a list and map of where the beetles were released:

About ten more sites were added this year, mostly in the Nashua and Neponset River watershed. http://www.mass.gov/czm/wrp/projects_pages/PLBCSummary_Final.pdf

Also, if people want to report observations of purple loosestrife damage from the beetle, they can find information at:
http://www.mass.gov/czm/wrp/projects_pages/loosestrife_beetle_monitor.htm