Purple jewelweed, an invasive plant, has been found in Michigan's Lower Peninsula, the Department of Natural Resources said on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

Also known as the Himalayan balsam, the jewelweed was detected in Kalamazoo's Frays Park in 2024 by a citizen who reported the plant online. Separately, Hannah Whiteman, landscape coordinator at Kzoo Parks also encountered the plant last year.

“I knew right away this was an unusual plant, so I took some photos,” Whiteman said.

“It wasn’t until winter that I took a tutorial on the [Midwest Invasive Species Information Network’s] Learn platform and used my photos to determine the plant was invasive purple jewelweed," she said.

She started looking for the patch of plants again this summer, but the site had been mowed, so the plants didn’t appea

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