The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Epilobium komarovianum

Etymology

Epilobium: From the Greek epi- 'upon' and lobos 'a pod', the flowers appearing to be growing on the seed pod.
komarovianum: after Kormarov

Common Name(s)

creeping 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 - Not Threatened

Authority

Epilobium komarovianum H.Lev

Family

Onagraceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

EPIKOM

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

Epilobium nummularifolium var, brevipes Hook.f.; Epilobium nummularifolium var. minimum Kirk, Epilobium nerteroides var. minimum (Kirk) Cockayne, Epilobium inornatum Melville, Epilobium inornatum var. brevipes (Hook.f.) Melville

Distribution

Endemic. New Zealand North, South, Stewart and Chatham islands. Uncommon in the northern half of the North Island. Also, naturalised in Great Britain, Ireland, Europe and the United States.

Habitat

A species of open, flushes, seepages, and places where water seasonally ponds. Also a component of lake shore and coastal turf, and open river beds.

Features

Creeping perennial herb forming mats up to 1 m diameter, these tightly appressed to ground. Plants subglabrous or sparsely furnished with round-tipped, appressed, antrorse (occasionaly admixed with appressed retrorse) eglandular hairs in lines decurrent from the margins of the petioles, on the ovaries, capsules, pedicels, sepals, and sometimes on the adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces of the foliage near the branch terminals. Flowers arising individually from the leaf axils, the stems continuing to grow and root beyond the point where flowers are produced. Leaves opposite, distant to crowded and imbricate, frequently reflexed, dull reddish-green to coppery, adaxially rugose-impressed, bearing 1-4 lateral veins on each side of the midrib; lamina 2.0-12.0 × 1.5-9.0 mm, usually orbicular, but occasionally oblong or ovate (sometimes with all forms on the same plant), apices subacute to obtuse, base attentuate to obtuse, entire or occasionally with 1-3 remote, weak teeth on each side of leaf; subsessile or with petioles up to 3 mm long. Flowers erect. Ovaries green to red-brown, 2.5-12.0 mm long, subglabrous or sparsely hairy, if hairs present these sometimes denser along value edges; pedicels 1-7(-38) mm long, the flowers falling before full pedicel elongation. Floral tube 0.4-1.0 mm deep, 1.0-1.6 mm diameter, subglabrous or sparsely hairy. Sepals not keeled, glabrous or sparsely hairy, 1.5-2.5 × 6.5-1.0 mm. Petals white, 2-4(-5) × 0.9-2.5(-3.0) mm, notch 0.7-1.2 mm deep. Anthers yellow, 0.35-0.8 × 0.25-0.6 mm, filaments of longer stamens 0.3-1.2 mm long, those of shorter 0.2-0.4 mm, generally both shedding pollen directly on the stigma at or before anthesis. Style white 1.1-1.8(-3.0) mm long; stigma white, clavate or capitate, 0.6-1.1 × 0.5-0.8 mm. Capsule subglabrous or sparsely furnished with hairs, 4-30 mm long, borne on a pedicel 3-93(-135) mm long. Seeds brown, 0.5-0.9(-1.1) × 0.25-0.4 mm, obovoid, smooth; coma 3.0-4.5. mm long, readily detaching.

Similar Taxa

A distinctive species that is only likely to be confused with Epilobium angustum as both species have similar reddish or copper-tinged leaves with adaxially rugose-impressure surfaces. Epilobium angustum is distinguished from E. komarovianum by the glandular pubescent capsules (those of E. komarovianum are subglabrate to very sparsely eglandular hairy), and the seeds have a well marked cellular rim absent in E. komarovianum. Epilobium komarovianum has also been much confused with E. nummularifolium, a species with smooth rather than rugose-impressed adaxial leaf surfaces; consistently serrulate rather than entire or weakly and sparingly toothed leaves, and yellow-green, rather then red-green or copper-coloured leaves. The capsules of Epilobium nummularifolium are grey-strigulose rather than subglabrate to sparsely hairy.

Flowering

October to March

Flower Colours

White

Fruiting

December to May

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from rooted pieces and seed. An attractive species that has proved popular in cultivation overseas. This species can, in suitable situations self-establish and has the potential to be a troublesome weed - as has proved the case in the U.K., Ireland, Europe and the United States of America (Raven & Raven 1976).

Threats

Not Threatened

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 30 Dec 2019