Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Epilobium tasmanicum

Common name

Snow willow-herb

Family

Onagraceae

Where found

Very low shrubland in alpine feldmark, herbfields, disturbed sites, and moist gravelly places, especially below snow patches in alpine areas. Kosciuszko National Park.

Notes

Mat-forming perennial herb, usually prostrate and rooting at the nodes, or with erect stems to 0.15 m high. Stems hairless or with inconspicuous fine hairs in two lines running down from the leaf-bases. Lower leaves opposite each other, those in the flowering region alternating along the stems, rather crowded, 0.5–2 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, glossy, usually with 3-5 shallow gland-tipped teeth. Flowers with 4 deeply notched white petals 3–5 mm long, and a hairless floral tube. Flowers single. Flowering: summer. Seed cases 0.8–2.5 cm long, hairless, green, becoming reddish at maturity, on stalks 5–50 mm long.

Definite identification of Epilobium species requires microscopic examination of the seeds.

Vulnerable Vic.

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Epilobium~tasmanicum (accessed 13 January, 2021)