Epilobium hirsutum
Epilobium suffruticosum
codlins-and-cream, fiddle grass, fiddle grass willowherb, great or great hairy willowherb, great willowherb, hairy willlowherb, hairy willow-herb, épilobe hirsute
shrubby willowherb
erect to ascending, often clumped, terete, 25–120(–250) cm, unusually thick, 3–9 mm diam., well branched mainly in distal 1/2, densely long-villous throughout, usually mixed glandular puberulent distally, rarely sparsely villous or densely white-tomentose.
several–many, ascending to erect, terete, 10–25 cm, simple or well-branched, ± densely strigillose.
opposite proximal to inflorescence, alternate distally, sessile and ± clasping stem;
blade elliptic-lanceolate to narrowly obovate or elliptic, 4–12(–23) × 0.3–4(–5) cm, base cuneate to attenuate, margins serrulate, 15–50 teeth per side, veins 6–9 per side, apex acute to acuminate or obtuse proximally, surfaces ± densely villous;
bracts moderately reduced.
often crowded, opposite and sometimes with fascicles of very small leaves at proximal nodes, subsessile or attenuate to broad petiole 0.5–1.5 mm, blade light grayish green, narrowly lanceolate to elliptic, 1–2.5 × 0.2–0.7 cm, often exceeding internodes, base cuneate to attenuate, margins entire or ± denticulate, 4–6 low teeth per side, lateral veins inconspicuous, apex blunt proximally to subacute, surfaces ± densely short-strigillose;
bracts not much reduced in size.
erect racemes or panicles, usually densely villous and glandular puberulent, rarely tomentose.
erect racemes or panicles, ± densely strigillose.
erect;
buds 5–9 × 1.8–4.5 mm, sometimes beaked;
pedicel 3–11 mm;
floral tube 1.3–2.9 × 2.2–4 mm, conspicuous ring of spreading hairs near mouth inside;
sepals oblong-linear, often keeled, 6–12 × 1–3 mm, abaxial surface densely pubescent;
petals bright pink to rose-purple, rarely white, broadly obcordate, 9–20 × 7–15 mm, apical notch 1–3 mm;
filaments white or pink, those of longer stamens 5–10 mm, those of shorter ones 2.5–6 mm;
anthers cream, 1.5–3 × 0.6–1.2 mm;
ovary 15–34 mm, densely villous and glandular puberulent;
style white or pink, 5–12 mm, usually glabrous, stigma deeply 4-lobed, 1.8–2.2 × 3–5.5 mm, lobes recurved or spreading, exserted beyond anthers.
slightly nodding;
buds 4–8 × 1.5–3.5 mm, apiculate;
floral tube funnelform to obconic, 1.8–3 × 1.9–2.6 mm, ring of spreading hairs 1–2.5 mm from base inside;
sepals 3–6.5 × 1–2.6 mm, often apiculate, abaxial surface densely strigillose;
petals cream to light yellow, obcordate, 5–9.3 × 2–3.8 mm, slightly unequal with upper 2 longer, apical notch 1–2.3 mm;
filaments cream, slightly inflated at base, those of longer stamens 6–10 mm, those of shorter ones 4.5–8 mm;
anthers cream-yellow, 1.4–2.2 × 0.6–1.1 mm;
ovary 4–9 mm, densely white-canescent;
style declined below main plane of flower, cream, 7.8–14.5 mm, glabrous, stigma deeply 4-lobed, 0.8–1.2 × 1.8–2.8 mm, lobes spreading-recurved 0.9–1.2 mm, exserted beyond longer anthers, often prematurely exserted and protogynous.
often flushed purple, 25–90 mm, surfaces usually densely villous and glandular puberulent, rarely glabrescent;
pedicel 5–20 mm.
often curved, fusiform-clavate, 10–30 mm, surfaces finely strigillose;
pedicel 4.5–13 mm.
narrowly obovoid, 0.8–1.2 × 0.3–0.6 mm, chalazal collar inconspicuous, dark brown, surface coarsely papillose;
coma easily detached, tawny or dull white, 7–10 mm.
narrowly obovoid to oblanceoloid, with constriction 0.7–1.3 mm from micropylar end, 2.1–3 × 0.7–1.1 mm, very inconspicuous chalazal collar, light brown, surface low-papillose;
coma easily detached, tawny, 7–9.5 mm, with unusually dense hairs.
= 36.
= 30.
Epilobium hirsutum
Epilobium suffruticosum
Epilobium hirsutum is very widespread in cool temperate Eurasia and montane regions, occurring throughout Europe except in the far north (P. H. Raven 1968), through the Caucasus and central Asia (E. I. Steinberg 1949) to Nepal (Raven 1962), China (Chen C. J. et al. 1992), and Japan (A. W. Lievens and P. C. Hoch 1999). It occurs as well along the Mediterranean coast of Africa, through East Africa to southern Africa, and in the Canary and Cape Verde Islands (Raven 1967).
Epilobium hirsutum exceeds almost all other species of the genus in stature, so its size, very large flowers, and densely villous aspect make it easy to identify. R. L. Stuckey (1970) provided a detailed account of the introduction and spread of E. hirsutum in North America, noting the earliest known collection (July 1829) was from Newport, Rhode Island. Most early collections appeared in waste areas, particularly near harbor ballast piles, although some may have been grown in gardens. By the 1890s this species was well established along the Atlantic coastal region from New Jersey and Philadelphia through New England, and around Niagara Falls in the Great Lakes region. During the twentieth century, E. hirsutum spread extensively in southern Ontario and Quebec, south along the Atlantic coast to Maryland, and to all of the states along the southern shores of the Great Lakes, most recently including Wisconsin (1970), and Indiana (1972). It occurs in much the same habitat as that of another, more widely publicized invader, Lythrum salicaria, and sometimes is recorded as a companion species. The earliest known collection in western North America was made in 1933 in Bingen (Klickitat County), Washington. Whether from that introduction or others, E. hirsutum is now naturalized and widespread in the Pacific Northwest. It also was reported recently from the Denver region in Colorado and near Midway in Utah.
Epilobium grandiflorum F. H. Wiggers and E. grandiflorum Allioni are illegitimate names that pertain here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Epilobium suffruticosum shares its unusual cream-yellow flower color only with E. luteum, a distantly related species in sect. Epilobium. Both species have relatively large flowers with 4-lobed stigmas and are visited quite intensively by bees and other insect pollinators. Nevertheless, these species differ dramatically in habit, leaves, seeds, and many other characters, do not overlap at all in distribution, and are never confused with one another; the similar floral features must have been derived independently.
The flowers of Epilobium suffruticosum are also slightly zygomorphic, which is relatively rare in the genus. In the field and on many herbarium specimens of E. suffruticosum, the stigmas are clearly exserted even before the flowers are fully open. The label for Raven 26451 (Wyoming, Park County, MO) notes: “protogynous; in late bloom, most flowers male-sterile.” Several flowers from this collection have undeveloped anthers, suggesting that the flowers are functionally pistillate. However, these plants are not sterile since they have apparently fertile capsules with fully developed seeds.
The distribution of Epilobium suffruticosum consists of two clusters of fairly common occurrence—in northwestern Wyoming around Yellowstone and Teton national parks, and in south-central Idaho mainly in the drainages of the Boise and Payette rivers—with more scattered collections in western Montana north to Flathead County, and a single collection to the south in Weber County, northern Utah. There are no obvious morphological discontinuities among these specimens, nor any obvious explanation for the gaps in distribution; it may be due to collecting bias. This species is commonly found on gravel/sand bars of cold montane streams and rivers, in a stable association despite the apparent ephemeral nature of these habitats. It would appear that the plants have deep, woody roots by which they anchor themselves; in the spring flood stages of these rivers, they must experience complete inundation and considerable scouring, yet persist, often in moderately large colonies.
The exact locality of the type collection (streams east of Wallawallah, plains of the Upper Columbia River, Oregon) is problematic, since the closest known localities are at least 250 km southeast of the town of Walla Walla, Washington. Whether this is a matter of the historical accuracy of the locality by Nuttall or of the local extinction of this species from a locality in eastern Oregon cannot be determined at present. A collection by Hayden in 1859 (Powder River, Wyoming) is far outside the range of E. suffruticosum and may have been mislabeled.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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