20+ Weeds with Purple Flowers

Explore the unexpected beauty of nature with our guide to over 20 weeds featuring stunning purple flowers. From the medicinal Blue Vervain to the striking Chicory, discover the diverse and vibrant world of purple-flowered weeds that add color and intrigue to landscapes and gardens alike

A field with a variety of purple flowers.

Purple flowering weeds, often seen as uninvited guests in gardens and landscapes, possess a unique beauty that belies their reputation as nuisances. Their vibrant hues range from the deepest purples to the most delicate lavenders, dotting green expanses with bursts of color that can rival even the most carefully cultivated flowers.

While many gardeners spend countless hours trying to eradicate these plants, a closer look reveals a fascinating world of resilience, adaptability, and ecological significance. These weeds, with their striking purple blooms, not only add unexpected beauty to their surroundings but also play crucial roles in supporting local ecosystems, providing food and habitat for a variety of pollinators.

A variety of plants with purple flowers and green leaves, including some purple weeds.

Despite their often-unwanted status, purple weeds deserve a second glance for their ecological contributions and aesthetic appeal. Let's shed light on the diverse world of purple weeds, offering insight into their characteristics, benefits, and the role they play in our environment. From the tall spikes of Blue Vervain to the delicate blossoms of Henbit, understanding these colorful inhabitants can enrich our appreciation of nature's intricacies.

20 Purple Weeds with Flowers

Discover the allure of 20 captivating purple weeds with flowers!

**Purple Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum)**

A winter annual with fuzzy leaves and purplish flowers at the top. It's common in gardens and disturbed soils.

**Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule)**

Similar to Purple Deadnettle, Henbit has distinctive purple flowers and round, scalloped leaves. It thrives in cool, moist conditions.

**Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)**

Blue vervain is a tall, perennial weed with slender spikes of small, blue to purple flowers, commonly found in moist areas and valued for its medicinal properties.

**Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea)**

A perennial weed with round, scalloped leaves and small purple flowers. It's known for its aggressive growth in lawns and gardens.

**Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)**

A perennial with spiny leaves and small, purple, thistle-like flowers. It spreads through extensive root systems.

**Wild Violet (Viola papilionacea)**

A perennial with heart-shaped leaves and deep purple flowers. Wild violets are often found in shady, moist lawns and woodlands.

Wild violets are growing in the grass. — Wild violets.

**Ironweed (Vernonia spp.)**

Tall, with robust purple flowers, ironweed is a perennial that prefers wetter areas and can dominate meadows or prairie landscapes.

**Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans)**

Identified by its large, nodding head of spiny purple flowers, this biennial weed is common in pastures and open fields.

**Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)**

Not always considered a weed, this plant has purple-pink flowers and is commonly found in grasslands and lawns.

A field of pink clover flowers with water droplets on them, bordered by purple weeds. — Red clover.

**Knapweed (Centaurea spp.)**

A tough perennial with thistle-like purple flowers. It's invasive and can be found in fields, meadows, and roadside areas.

**Chicory (Cichorium intybus)**

Recognized by its bright blue-purple flowers and dandelion-like leaves, chicory is often found along roadsides and in grassy areas.

**Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)**

A climbing, leguminous plant with small, purple flowers. It's often found in fields and along roadsides, used sometimes as a cover crop.

Purple flowers in a field. — Common vetch.

**Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)**

With lavender to pale purple flowers, this perennial weed is common in meadows and grassy areas, attracting plenty of pollinators.

**Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)**

A low-growing perennial with small, violet flowers. It's common in lawns and grassy areas, known for its medicinal properties.

**Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)**

A tall, invasive perennial with spikes of bright purple flowers. It's often found in wetlands, affecting native vegetation.

Purple weeds in a field against a blue sky. — Purple loosestrife.

**Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)**

Characterized by its spiny foliage and large purple flower heads, this biennial weed is common in pastures and disturbed soils.

**Patterson's Curse (Echium plantagineum)**

An invasive plant with vibrant purple flowers, often found in fields and disturbed areas. It's toxic to livestock.

**American Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)**

A perennial with large, purplish stems and small, white to purplish flowers followed by dark berries. It's often found in disturbed areas.

A plant with green and red leaves and black berries, occasionally mistaken for purple weeds. — American pokeweed.

**Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris)**

Similar to Selfheal, with violet to purple flowers, used traditionally for medicinal purposes. It's common in lawns and meadows.

**Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis)**

A tall, invasive plant with clusters of fragrant, purple flowers. It resembles phlox and is often found in wild areas and gardens.

**Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea)**

Known for its vivid blue to purple flowers, this vine is sometimes considered a weed in tropical regions, used in teas for its color.

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