Epilobium palustre L.
swamp willowherb (marsh willowherb)
Onagraceae (Evening Primrose family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
swamp willowherb (marsh willowherb)
Onagraceae (Evening Primrose family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a slender rhizome, stolons threadlike, with some leaves, tipped with compact, fleshy bulblets; stems erect, 5-80 cm tall, simple or branched, short stiff-hairy in lines below, stiff-hairy above.
Leaves:
Mostly opposite, nearly linear to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 1.5-7 cm long, 0.2-1.9 cm wide, blunt, entire or slightly toothed, glabrous except margins and veins short stiff-hairy; unstalked or nearly so.
Flowers:
Inflorescence loosely racemose to paniculate, densely short stiff-hairy, nodding to erect in bud; hypanthium 0.6-1.8 mm long; petals 2-9 mm long, white to pinkish, notched; sepals 1.4-4.5 mm long, short stiff-hairy; anthers 0.4-1 mm long; ovaries 1.4-3 cm long, densely short stiff-hairy; styles 1-4.5 mm long; stigmas cylindric to club-shaped.
Fruits:
Capsules, linear, 3-9 cm long, short stiff-hairy; stalks slender, 1.5-6 cm long; seeds 1.4-2.2 mm long, pimply, tuft of hairs white to tawny, 5-7 mm long, persisting.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Epilobium palustre
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1013 | 83 | 2091 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
2 | 0 | 60 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
183 | 10 | 266 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 2 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
102 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(5), CWH(4), ESSF(13), ICH(6), IDF(19), MH(1), MS(8), SBPS(13), SBS(32) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Bogs, fens, swamps and moist streambanks in the steppe and montane zones; frequent in C and N BC; circumpolar, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF, and S to NY, WI, CO and CA; Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Epilobium lineare Muhl.
Epilobium oliganthum Michx.
Epilobium palustre var. grammadophyllum Hausskn.
Epilobium palustre var. labradoricum Hausskn.
Epilobium palustre var. lapponicum Wahlenb.
Epilobium palustre var. longirameum Fern. & Wieg.
Epilobium palustre var. oliganthum (Michx.) Fern.
Epilobium pylaieanum Fern.
Epilobium wyomingense A. Nels.