Purple loosestrife

Lythrum salicaria

Also: Spiked loosestrife, Lythrum

CoolingDryingTonifying

A wetland astringent for loose bowels, bleeding gums, and sore throats.

A tall wetland perennial with square stems and dense magenta flower spikes that color whole marshes in late summer. Purple loosestrife is a cooling astringent with a soothing, mucilaginous side; it firms and calms inflamed, leaking membranes from the throat to the gut and slows bleeding.

Energetics: Cooling, drying, toning
Taste: Astringent, faintly aromatic
Family: Lythraceae (loosestrife family)
Parts used: Flowering tops

Medicinal uses 7

The tags sort the evidence behind each use by kind. Members are able to tap a condition to compare every herb for it.

Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Loose bowelsTLC
A classic European remedy for diarrhea and dysentery, gentle enough for children; it curbs diarrhea in animal studies.
IBS & gut crampingTLC
Firms and calms a chronically inflamed, loose gut.
Sore throatTLC
Gargled for sore throats.
Mouth sores & gumsTLC
A rinse for bleeding gums and gingivitis.
Cuts, scrapes & bleedingTLC
Slows bleeding from small wounds.
Heavy or irregular periodsTLC
Taken inside, eases heavy menstrual bleeding.
Varicose veins & hemorrhoidsTLC
A wash for varicose veins and hemorrhoids in Turkish folk medicine.

Preparations

Flowering-top tea, gargles and rinses, and tincture.

Members are able to see the amounts, ratios, and methods for each preparation, search by condition, and match herbs to your constitution.

Become a member · $39 a year Log in

Cautions

Gentle and suitable for all ages.
Its tannins reduce iron absorption; take iron supplements a couple of hours apart.
Many states and provinces list it as a noxious weed that is illegal to plant or sell; gather it where it already grows.

Medication interactions

Practitioner Practitioners are able to see the 2 types of medicine flagged for purple loosestrife, each with the mechanism and what to do. The plain-language cautions above stay open to everyone.

Practitioner membership · $150 a year Log in

Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyAsk your practitioner

Purple loosestrife has not been studied in pregnancy; check with your practitioner.

BreastfeedingAsk your practitioner

It has not been studied in nursing; check with your practitioner first.

Folklore

Loosestrife translates the Greek lysimachion, ending strife, and Pliny wrote that the plant laid on a yoke calmed quarreling oxen. Its seeds probably reached North America in ships' ballast and bales of wool in the early 1800s. A single plant can shed more than two million seeds a year, and since 1992 European leaf beetles have been released across the continent to keep it in check.

How to grow

Do not plant it; it is banned in many places. Gather flowering tops in late summer from wetlands where it already grows, ideally from clean water.

In the wild

Marshes, wet meadows, ditches, and lakeshores of Europe and Asia, and naturalized across temperate North America, where it is one of the best-known invasive wetland plants.

Every herb here fits some people better than others. Find out which ones fit you.

Match by condition Book a consult