Purple loosestrife
Blooms with purple spikes all summer along streams, ditches and marshes; in wetlands it gives bees steady nectar and green pollen during the July-August dearth.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Pollen colour
- Height
- 0.5-1.5 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Purple loosestrife is a perennial plant of moist soils that forms long purple spikes in midsummer. Its flowers have three different lengths of style and stamens, a structure that ensures cross-pollination. The nectar lies at the base of the corolla tube and is easily taken by honey bees.
Flowering
It flowers from late June to September. As long as there is enough water in the soil it secretes nectar even in summer heat; unlike drying pastures, wetlands thus give bees an uninterrupted source.
Honey and pollen
Pollen from the long stamens is green, from the short ones yellow; the loads arriving at the hive mostly look green. It is not common as a monofloral honey in Europe.
Note for the beekeeper
In North America it has become an invasive species covering wetlands; in Europe and Turkey it is native. Because it is a valuable midsummer support for apiaries near streams, it is in the beekeeper's interest to leave these areas unmown.