Epilobium ciliatum

• Family: Onagraceae
• Common Name: fringed willowherb
• Symbol: EPCI
• Description: uration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Perennial herb (sometimes annual), up to 1 m tall, from fibrous roots; stems erect, smaller plants unbranched and larger plants freely branching; herbage glabrous or pubescent, sometimes glandular in inflorescence. Leaves: Opposite on the lower stems and often alternate above; sessile or on petioles up to 1 cm long; blades ovate to lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, 3-7 cm long, with 4-10 conspicuous lateral veins on either side of the midvein; leaf margins lined with small teeth. Flowers: Small and pink, erect in leafy racemes at branch tips; sepals per flower, 2 mm long; petals 4 per flower, white to pink or reddish, 2-10 mm long, each with a deep notch at the tip, making each petal look like a pair of petals at first glance. Fruits: Capsules long and slender, 4-6 cm long, tinged with red; splitting open along 4 suture lines to release many seeds, each 1 mm long with a dandelion-like tuft of white hairs attached to the top. Ecology: Found on moist soils, from 2,000-10,000 ft (610-3048 m); flowers May-September. Distribution: Throughout N. Amer., most states in the U.S. except the southeast; south to S. Amer.; also in Asia, Australia and Europe. Notes: Distinguished by the small pink flowers at the end of a long inferior ovary, that, when mature, splits open along sutures revealing small seeds with tufts of hair attached. The plant is often erect, has a reddish color and and has narrow oval-shaped leaves with conspicuous veins. Only occurs in wetlands. SEINet Portal Network. 2020. http//:swbiodiversity.org/seinet/index.php. Accessed on November 02.

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