Common name: Hairy Willow-herb
Epilobium hirsutum L. APNI* Description: Robust, erect perennial to c. 1.5 m or more high; stems hirsute with long, spreading hairs, glandular hairs present, particularly in the flowering region.
Leaves lanceolate, 4–12 cm long, 3–40 mm wide, with numerous tiny teeth, sesile and stem-clasping.
Flowers with a conspicuous ring of long white hairs inside the hypanthium. Style exserted; stigma deeply 4-lobed. Petals to 9–20mm long, deeply notched, bright pink to rose-purple.
Fruit 2.5–9 cm long, densely villous andy glandular pubescent; pedicel 5–20 mm long; seeds c. 1 mm long, the surface coarsely papillose, comose.
Flowering: spring–autumn.
Distribution and occurrence: Discovered in the A.C.T. but may not be naturalised. Native of temperate Eurasia and Africa; widely naturalised in north America. Favours stream-banks and margins of swamps.
NSW subdivisions: *ST
This species is a potentially highly invasive plant in wetlands.
Text by Peter G. Wilson
Taxon concept: Smithsonian Institution Onagraceae website: http://botany.si.edu/onagraceae/ accessed November 2012.
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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