The Purple Loose-strife is common in all parts of England, but you do
not find it so abundantly in Scotland. It is a tall, spiky plant, which
likes to grow in wet places, and it blooms in late summer and autumn.
The flowers are a rich purple colour which is sometimes almost pink.
They grow in circles close round the main stem, and there is always a
pair of broad pointed green leaves separating each circle from the one
above.
The flowers have six separate petals, which are long and narrow and
rather crumpled looking. These petals are placed at the mouth of a green
calyx, which is shaped like a thick tube. This tube is ribbed all over,
and has six large green teeth and six smaller green teeth round its
mouth. If you gently split open this green tube you find two rows of
stamens clinging to its sides. These stamens have purply-pink heads, and
there are six long ones which stand up in the centre of the flowers, and
six which are shorter and hidden out of sight.
The leaves of the Purple Loose-strife are dark green. Usually they are
covered with fine hairs, but sometimes you find leaves which are quite
smooth. It is easy to recognise this plant by the rings of flowers
growing close round the main stem.