Epilobium confertifolium
Common names
willowherb
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Red/Pink, Violet/Purple
Detailed description
Compact, creeping, matted, mostly glabrous perennial herb. Stems 20–180 mm long, creeping and rooting at nodes or semi-erect to erect, glabrous except for lines of fine appressed or erect hairs decurrent from the petiole margins. Leaves arranged parallel to ground in creeping forms, longer than internodes, mostly opposite becoming alternate in the inflorescence; subsessile to shortly petiolate (up to 2 mm long); lamina 4–16 × 2–7 mm, glossy, bright green, elliptic, apex acute, base attenuate, margins serrulate bearing up to 12 teeth, lateral veins scarcely evident, 1–4 either side of midrib. Inflorescence and flowers erect with flowers well spaced along stems. Ovaries 5–12 mm long, glabrous, subsessile or on glabrous or finely strigulose-striated pedicels up to 8 mm long. Floral tube 0.4–1.0 × 0.7–1.4 mm, glabrous. Sepals 1.8–3.3 × 0.7–1.1 mm, glabrous, not keeled. Petals 2.0–5.5 × 1.2–2.6 mm, bright rose-purple, notch 0.3–1.3 mm. Anthers 0.3–0.5 × 0.3–0.4 mm, yellow; filaments of longer stamens 0.8–1.5 mm long, those of shorter 0.5–0.6 mm, rose-purple. Style 0.8–1.8 mm tall, white; stigma 0.6–1.3 × 0.3–0.8 mm, white, clavate. Capsule 13–40 mm long on pedicel up to 60 mm long; thick and fleshy, bright green, glabrous. Seeds 0.8–0.9 × 0.4 mm, brown, narrowly obovoid, papillose; coma 5–7 mm long, white, easily detached.
Similar taxa
A distinctive species easily recognised by the glabrous ovary and rose-pink flowers. It has no close relationship morphologically or otherwise to the other Epilobium species recorded from the Subantarctic islands
Distribution
Endemic. Auckland Islands and Campbell Island/Motu Ihupuku.
Habitat
Sea level to 600 m a.s.l. A species of open ground amongst Poa litorosa and Chionochloa antarctica tussocks or in exposed rock ground and turf.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
Threats
Not threatened. A narrow range endemic abundant within its subantarctic habitats and listed only because it qualifies as a Range Restricted species.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Epilobium findlayi Allan, Epilobium dawbinii Allan
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November–January
Fruiting
December–March
Life cycle and dispersal
Minute pappate seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Etymology
epilobium: From the Greek epi- ‘upon’ and lobos ‘a pod’, the flowers appearing to be growing on the seed pod.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
EPICON
Chromosome number
2n = 36
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR, Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Raven PH, Raven TE. 1976. The genus Epilobium in Australasia. New Zealand DSIR Bulletin 216. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 321 p.
Thorsen MJ, Dickinson KJM, Seddon PJ. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285–309.
Webb CJ, Simpson MJA. 2001. Seeds of New Zealand Gymnosperms and Dicotyledons. Manuka Press, Christchurch. 428 p.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 6 January 2008. Description adapted from Raven & Raven (1976) and Webb & Simpson (2001).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Epilobium confertifolium Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/epilobium-confertifolium/ (Date website was queried)