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Broad-Leaved Willowherb

Broad-Leaved Willowherb

Epilobium montanum

Identify the Broad-Leaved Willowherb from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Common

Broad-leaved willowherb is a long‑lived, upright wildflower with pale pink, four‑petaled flowers. It favors damp, shady places such as woodlands, stream banks, ditches and roadsides, and often pops up on disturbed ground. Its broad, toothed leaves and long, thin seed pods are typical.

Did you know?

  • The tip of the flower’s central part splits into four arms and is easy to see — a sure way to identify this species.
  • The long pods split open to release many tiny seeds with silky tufts that drift on the wind.

About the species

Identification

Upright plant 30–70 cm. Stems usually unbranched, softly hairy from the base. Leaves 4–7 cm, broad and oval with sharp teeth, very short stalks, arranged in pairs facing each other along the stem; upper leaves feel slightly rough. Flowers in a loose cluster, small and pale pink with four petals. The tip of the central column splits into four arms and is easy to see — a key clue. After flowering, long thin pods (5–9 cm) form and later split to release many tiny seeds with silky tufts. Can be confused with other willowherbs; the paired leaves and four‑armed tip help to tell it apart. Flowers in Finland in July–August.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

herb-rich forest

Flowering

Jul–Aug

About the habitat

Grows in fresh, moist and often shady places: rich woods, under rock outcrops, along streams and ditches, as well as roadsides, gardens and waste ground. Common in southern and central Finland, scarce up to around Oulu, absent in Lapland.

Sources

Photo: Barry Stewart, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6273419410

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39091

Text: Pinkka: Laaja maatalouslajintuntemus 4 op - Koppisiemeniset, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39091

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehtohorsma

See also