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Explore our latest coverage of environmental issues, climate change and more.

Rare Flower Thought Extinct In Vermont, Rediscovered

Courtesy: Vt. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Winged loosestrife was considered extirpated in Vermont until Vermont Fish & Wildlife botanist Everett Marshall spotted it in Monkton.

A flowering plant thought to be extinct in Vermont has been rediscovered.

Winged loosestrife is a native plant related to the non-native invasive purple loosestrife.

It’s been considered extinct because it hasn’t been seen in Vermont since 1979.

Everett Marshall, a botanist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife was hiking with his wife, Deb Parrella, also a botanist, when she spotted the plant.

The two were exploring the Raven Ridge Natural Area in Monkton, which is owned by the Nature Conservancy.

Marshall says the plant was clearly loosestrife, but not the invasive variety.

“I realized that it was different, but I wasn’t familiar with the species,” he says.

After researching their find, they were able to identify it.  

Credit Courtesy: Vt. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Winged loosestrife (right) is smaller and more delicate than the more robust invasive purple loosestrife (left).

The couple spotted the plant while using a boardwalk constructed in a wet meadow area. Marshall says the boardwalk was built just last year, making the location of the plants more accessible than in the past.  

He says winged loosetrife has never been common in Vermont. Before 1979, there are only eight records of the plant, dating back to the 1800s.

There’s evidence, however, that winged loosestrife has long been growing in the area where Marshall and Parella found it.  

“Our most famous botanist in Vermont, Cyrus Pringle, first collected the plant in Charlotte and this wet meadow is on the Monkton-Charlotte town line. So it’s likely that he actually collected it on the same site 132 years ago,” he says.

Marshall says he observed bumblebees and other insects collecting nectar from the plant, which has numerous flowering stems. 

“It really adds to the diversity of our state. In this case it not only has a function in the ecosystem, but it’s also a real beautiful plant, ” he says.

Marshall says its likely winged loosestrife grows in other Vermont locations.

The plant, which is smaller than purple loosestrife, prefers wet, undisturbed meadows.

Marshall  oversees Vermont’s Natural Heritage Inventory database, which catalogs rare and endangered plants and animals and significant natural communities.

Steve has been with VPR since 1994, first serving as host of VPR’s public affairs program and then as a reporter, based in Central Vermont. Many VPR listeners recognize Steve for his special reports from Iran, providing a glimpse of this country that is usually hidden from the rest of the world. Prior to working with VPR, Steve served as program director for WNCS for 17 years, and also worked as news director for WCVR in Randolph. A graduate of Northern Arizona University, Steve also worked for stations in Phoenix and Tucson before moving to Vermont in 1972. Steve has been honored multiple times with national and regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for his VPR reporting, including a 2011 win for best documentary for his report, Afghanistan's Other War.
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