Epilobium brunnescens facts for kids

Epilobium brunnescens is a small flowering plant often called the New Zealand willowherb. It is part of the Epilobium group, which belongs to the Onagraceae plant family. This plant is a perennial, meaning it lives for more than two years. It has pretty white or light pink flowers.

You can find Epilobium brunnescens naturally in New Zealand and south-east Australia. It has also been carried by people to places like Northern Europe. Besides New Zealand willowherb, it's also known as creeping willowherb in New Zealand and bog willowherb in Australia.

What Does It Look Like?

This plant grows low to the ground and spreads out like a mat. Its stems can reach up to 20 centimetres long. These stems have tiny hairs in two rows and can grow roots from their joints.

The petals of its flowers are white or pale pink and are about 2.5 to 4 millimetres long. The leaves are round and usually measure 3 to 7 millimetres, though some can be up to 10 millimetres. They often have a purplish color underneath and their edges are smooth or slightly toothed. Each leaf has a small stalk about 0.5 to 3 millimetres long.

Where Does It Live?

Epilobium brunnescens is found all over New Zealand. This includes the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island, the Auckland Islands, and the Campbell Islands. It also grows on Macquarie Island, which belongs to Australia.

This plant likes to grow in many different places. It especially loves open, stony riverbeds where there is a lot of rain. In New Zealand, there are two main types, or subspecies:

• E. b. subsp. brunnescens: This type usually has flowers that hang downwards.
• E. b. subsp. minutiflorum: This type usually has flowers that stand upright.

Australian Home

One special type, E. b. subsp. beaugleholei, lives in only one spot in the Alpine National Park in eastern Victoria, Australia. It grows on wet, mossy rocks near a waterfall, high up in the mountains at about 1320 metres.

In 2001, scientists looked for this plant and found only three small patches. These patches covered a total area of just 1 square metre. This subspecies is in danger of extinction. It faces threats like falling rocks, dry weather, people illegally collecting it, and damage from visitors.

Introduced to Europe

E. b. subsp. brunnescens was brought to Great Britain and Ireland. It was first seen in 1904 in Craigmillar, Edinburgh. From the 1930s onwards, it spread quickly. Now, it is common in northern and western areas where it rains a lot and the air is humid. It has not spread much to southern and central England or central Ireland yet.

You can find it in many damp, open, gravelly, or stony places. These include hillsides, stream banks, waste tips, stone walls, paths, and even railway areas. The plant has also been introduced to Norway, where it was first recorded in 1931, but it is still quite rare there.

• Online Atlas of the British & Irish Flora: Epilobium brunnescens (New Zealand Willowherb)
• Species Profile and Threats Database: Epilobium brunnescens subsp. beaugleholei — Bog Willow-herb