The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Epilobium chionanthum

Etymology

Epilobium: From the Greek epi- 'upon' and lobos 'a pod', the flowers appearing to be growing on the seed pod.
chionanthum: snowy-white flower

Common Name(s)

marsh willowherb

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Not Threatened

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - Not Threatened
2004 - Gradual Decline

Qualifiers

2009 - DP

Authority

Epilobium chionanthum Hauss.

Family

Onagraceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

EPICHI

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

None

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand: North, South and Chatham Islands.

Habitat

In swamps and wet swards of grasses or sedges, beside lakes or rivers, and in bogs. Lowland to upland, mostly below 900m altitude.

Features

Loosely clumped perennial herb up to 0.75 m tall, producing numermous leafy stolons above and below ground; stems often reddish, mostly glabrous, strigulose along lines decurrent from the margins of the petioles below and all round above and in the inflorescence, more rarely pubescent all round to the base. Leaves much shorter than the internodes they subtend, mostly opposite, a few alternate in the inflorescence, dull green, paler beneath, the lateral veins quite prominent, 3-4 on each side of the midrib, subsessile; lamina 12-40 × 7-15 mm, elliptic to ovate, acute at the apex, narrowly cuneate to rounded at the base, margins serrulate, usually with 7-14 often obscure teeth on each side. Inflorescence erect. Flowers erect. Ovary 10-20 mm long, investiture mixed glandular and strigulose, on a pedicel 2-7 mm long. Floral tube 1.0-1.7 × 1.4-1.8 mm. Sepals 4.0-5.2 × 1.5-1.7 mm, slightly keeled, indumentum of mixed glandular and strigulose hairs. Petals 6.0-11.0 × 4.5-6.0 mm, notch 0.8-1.3 mm deep, white, often flushed pink at fertilisation. Stamens filaments white, of two types: long (2.0-3.5 mm long) and short (0.8-1.3 mm long), Anthers 1.3-1.5 × 0.6-0.7 mm, bright yellow. Style 5.2-9.0 mm long, white, stigma 1.0-2.0 x 0.9-2.0 mm, globose, obscurely 4-lobed, held above anthers in early anthesis. Capsule 40-60 mm long on a pedicel 12-28 mm long, moderately to densely strigulose and glandular. Seeds 1.4-1.8 mm long, dark brown, narrowly obovate to obovate, finely reticulate to reticulate-mamillate; coma 7.5-11.0 mm long, orange to orange-brown, persistent.

Similar Taxa

Other Epilobium species. E. chionanthum has large flowers and hairless, dull green leaves with tiny teeth.

Flowering

October - March

Flower Colours

Red / Pink,White

Fruiting

November - April

Propagation Technique

Easy from rooted pieces and fresh seed. Tends to be short-lived and resents competition.

Threats

At risk from wetland drainage and the spread of invasive weeds. Some populations have been destroyed by coastal development.

Chromosome No.

2n = 36

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Minute pappate seeds are wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).

This page last updated on 14 Sep 2014