In ditches, in ponds, along creek shores and lake edges, everywhere we turn this last two weeks the invasive alien species purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is colouring the landscape with great splashes of fuschia pink/purple.
But, then, so is the native fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium), with the same splash of fuschia pinky purple...The Garden City lands in Richmond are alive with fireweed this week, great swaths of pink stretching across the drier areas.
To the novice, it can be confusing sorting the two species out. But the first clue is habitat: one is a wetland species, the other is a dryland species. If you feet are getting wet while you smell the flowers, it's loosestrife. The second clue is the shape of the flowers. Fireweed flowers have noticeable long, emergent stigmas that give the flowers a distinctive look. The third clue is the shape of the flowering spike: fireweed spikes taper noticeably to the tip, while loosestrife spikes are a bit more of a uniform width from top to bottom, although they do taper a bit. For resource managers, knowing the difference between these two species is important if there is species removal going on aimed at invasion control.
In BC, the two species have very different ranges: fireweed is found throughout BC, but purple loosestrife is found only in the very southern part of the province.
Visit the E-Flora photo gallery for purple loosestrife to get a good view of the shape of the flowering spikes.
Visit the E-Flora photo gallery for fireweed to get a good view of the shape of the spikes on this species.
2 comments:
Good reminder that identification doesn't need to be limited to the object itself. Noting the habitat is helpful in birdwatching, too!
Yep, the wet feet part is a dead giveaway for sure.
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