Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Epilobium hirtigerum
Common name
Narrow-leaved willow-herb, Hairy willow-herb
Family
Onagraceae
Where found
Forest, woodland, moist grassy areas, disturbed sites, and swamps. Widespread.
Notes
Perennial herb to 1.4 m tall, often woody near the base. Stems very hairy, sticky in the flowering region. Leaves alternating up the stems, or a few near the base of the plant opposite each other, 1.5-8 cm long, 2-10 mm wide, hairy, greyish at least when young, margins with minute teeth in the upper half of the leaf or only near the rounded tip, and sometimes wavy. Flowers with a floral tube, and 4 purplish pink or white petals each 3-8 mm long. Flowers with a conspicuous ring of long hairs inside the floral tube. Flowers single. Flowers Spring to Summer. Seed cases 3.5–6 cm long, densely hairy, with a mixture of long spreading hairs and short glandular hairs; on stalks 6–15 mm long
Definite identification of Epilobium species requires microscopic examination of the seeds.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Epilobium~hirtigerum (accessed 12 January, 2021)
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