Date: Fri 01-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Purple-loosestrife-Ram-Pasture

Full Text:

Purple Loosestrife Suffers Beetle Damage - But Not In Newtown

(with photos)

BY DOROTHY EVANS

Potted in a gallon container for sale at a local nursery, or growing rampant

in The Ram Pasture, purple loosestrife is in its full glory right now.

It would be hard not to call it beautiful, with its long graceful stalks

sporting hundreds of bright magenta blossoms.

In most people's view, the dense growth of purple loosestrife lends a welcome

splash of vibrant color to the dull dark greens of the midsummer landscape.

They would miss it if it were suddenly gone.

But there are others, including Ram Pasture custodian and Newtown Cemetery

Association sexton James Crick, some homeowners on nearby Sugar and Main

streets, University of Connecticut plant scientist Donna R. Ellis, and state

environmental officials concerned with the health of our native ecosystems,

who wish that purple loosestrife could be kept under control.

Or, that it had never come over to America in the first place.

They fear that because loosestrife is crowding out native species of grasses,

the surrounding ecosystem will be negatively affected.

A newsletter of the Connecticut Botanical Society stated in winter 1996 that

"purple loosestrife has displaced native plant communities and destroyed

habitat for wildlife on more than 169,000 square miles ... an area larger than

the state of California."

Spare The

Blooming Loosestrife?

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicara) is an invasive species that loves wet,

sunny places such as Newtown's historic Ram Pasture, where it has taken a firm

hold over the past several years.

In August 1993, when the Ram Pasture loosestrife was mowed down in its prime

blooming season at the request of the town, such a public outcry arose that

Newtown Cemetery Association sexton, James Crick, who is in charge of mowing

the property once a week during the growing season, is still reeling from the

blast.

"It can be very dense and it just takes over. But we got such flack last

time...," Mr Crick said Tuesday.

It is the Cemetery Association, not the town government, that owns the Ram

Pasture and Mr Crick feels a proprietary responsibility to keep the grass

mowed for the enjoyment of the townspeople. In fact, the association has

recently purchased a smaller, more powerful mower to do the job despite its

limited funds.

Mr Crick does not plan to cut down the loosestrife along the stream until the

fall, when its purple bloom has long faded.

"I like to keep the Ram Pasture the way it looks now," Mr Crick said, with the

grass cut low except for the long strip of wetland plants and loosestrife that

grow down the middle bordering the brook that feeds Hawley Pond.

That way, residents can continue to fly kites, launch balloons, pose for

wedding photographs or even find artistic inspiration.

"I saw a woman down at The Ram Pasture last week painting a landscape. I'd

love to have a copy of that picture," Mr Crick commented.

Taking Over

Connecticut Wetlands

Lovely as it is, purple loosestrife is an extremely invasive plant that is

difficult to control because once it takes hold, it can multiply at a great

rate.

Maturing in three to five years, a single loosestrife plant can have up to 50

stems, and it may disperse up to 2.5 million seeds per year. Even though the

plant is mowed down, the tap root can survive to send up new shoots.

Furthermore, there is no known native biological control to inhibit or stunt

its rate of growth.

Purple loosestrife is one of more than 200 plant species that did not exist in

this country prior to colonization but have found ecological niches here.

Their seeds probably journeyed across the ocean as stowaways, hitching a ride

in the trouser cuffs or boot soles of the early settlers, or as part of ships'

ballasts, or mixed into shipments of seed and grain.

The following are a few examples of other non-native species that have become

firmly entrenched in North America and Canada: ox-eye daisy; coltsfoot;

Japanese barberry; watercress; dame's rocket; yellow iris; common periwinkle;

English ivy; crown-vetch; Scotch broom; orange day-lily; Japanese rose; and

May apple.

Many of these alien wildflowers are now familiar features of our New England

landscape. But none, perhaps with the exception of Japanese bittersweet and

multiflora rose, has spread as quickly or as widely as purple loosestrife.

Beetle Control

Donna R. Ellis, plant scientist at the University of Connecticut received

state permission in September 1996 to release a species of European beetle

that eats loosestrife. As a result, 1,600 of the beetles ( Galerucella

species) were purchased from Cornell University and released last fall at

Haddam Meadows State Park. Eight hundred more beetles were released at Mirror

Lake on the UConn campus.

"We're collecting beetle data now, although the summary report isn't due until

fall," Dr Ellis said from her Storrs office last week.

The purple loosestrife at the two test sites was "definitely down," she said,

and foliage development showed considerable beetle damage from chewing.

"We're monitoring it and will watch the overall changes," Dr Ellis said,

especially noting how much seed is set in the fall and whether there is

evidence of beetle egg clusters.

She will continue her study over the next 10 years and hopes to add new test

sites each year, releasing up to 15,000 insects next year alone.

The beetles over-winter as adults and last year's mild winter seemed to have

been beneficial for the first test population to survive.

Not Prohibited

In Connecticut

Although purple loosestrife has been declared a "noxious weed" and its sale

has been outlawed in 17 states, Connecticut has yet to prohibit its sale or

initiate an official program to eradicate it.

This is despite a survey done in 1995, in which purple loosestrife was found

growing in every single county in the state.

For now, Dr Ellis said she is attempting to gather information and educate

local nurseries, garden clubs and town conservation boards about the need to

control the loosestrife and, hopefully, reduce its spread by at least 10

percent.

"We're going the educational route," she said.

Meanwhile, two new beetle test sites have been approved in the towns of

Wethersfield and Manchester, and Dr Ellis is seeking permission to release

beetles at a site in the town of Sharon, but is awaiting wetlands approval.

As for coming to Newtown and releasing beetles in The Ram Pasture, Dr Ellis

said she had no plans at this time to do that.

She knew the location well because of the healthy stand of purple loosestrife

that has taken root there, and because she remembers hearing about the 1993

outcry from Newtown residents when it was mowed down.

"Only if there is clear interest" on the part of the townspeople, she said.

Then, she would be "happy to go."