The Popular Purple Flowering Plant That's Actually Illegal To Grow In Many U.S. States

Your home's landscape design isn't complete without some gorgeously colored flowering plants. You can use them to bring fresh life into indoor room or line them along walkways through your gardens for a stunning. There are different types of flowering plants out there, so there's almost certainly a few varieties that would work for whatever your yard or garden conditions might be. Not only do flowers add natural beauty to your landscape and home, but they also can contribute to pest control, improve the air, and draw in other lovely creatures like butterflies and hummingbirds.

While plant care and maintenance is a top consideration when you choose the plants you want, you should also consider their effect on the surrounding environment. As it turns out, one gorgeous and popular flowering plant is actually illegal to grow in a majority of U.S. states thanks to its invasive status. Lythrum salicaria, more commonly known as purple loosestrife, is so damaging to other species that some states have taken steps to outlaw the plant. It's definitely an invasive garden plant to avoid.

So if you don't have this plant, don't buy it. If you already have this plant, remove it by hand pulling or using a garden fork to dig out its roots. Double-check the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health to see if it's a noxious weed in your area. Besides, there are native alternatives out there that won't have you breaking the law or the environment. 

At first glance, purple loosestrife is a beautiful plant with staggered petals that create an attractive whorled look. The flower, brought over from Europe in 1869, gained popularity as a favored ornamental because of its lovely appearance and sturdiness. It was particularly liked by beekeepers for its large quantities of nectar. It grows primarily in wetland areas now, but has graced homes and wild landscapes alike. Yet, as time passed, it became abundantly clear that this lovely flowering plant was a secret killer.

As early as 1999, states began to outlaw purple loosestrife for its invasive properties. In the United States, the plant has few insect predators and seems to be immune to  botanical diseases, which seriously increases its ability to survive over native species. It's able to edge out other U.S. plants that provide nutrition to local wildlife while offering little nutritional benefit to animals that survive on foraging. So it's not just harmful for other plants, but also animals, which messes up the entire ecosystem. No wonder so many states have called it an invasive species or noxious weed.

Though it's outlawed in 15 states and listed as invasive in many others, there are still some states that allow purple loosestrife. Before you purchase anything, know that other environmental species and plants alike would thank you for choosing a just as enchanting native alternative. Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) and blue vervain (Verbena hastata) are both native species that have a similar look to purple loosestrife, giving you a purple-pink flowering plant without all that ecological damage.