Epilobium obscurum Schreb.
tall willow-herb
Erect perennial herb 20-80 cm tall, in late summer producing elongated leafy stolons above or on surface of ground, these not terminating in distinct rosettes; stems strigillose above, glabrous below, with the hairs concentrated on raised lines running down from petiole margins. Lvs mostly opposite, alternate in the infl., subsessile and often somewhat decurrent, 1.5-10 × 0.4-1.8 cm, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, green or bluish green, strigillose on midrib and veins below, otherwise glabrous, denticulate; base rounded to amplexicaul; apex obtuse. Infl. erect, with mainly strigillose hairs. Fls erect. Ovary 1.2-3.8 mm long, strigillose. Floral tube 0.8-1 mm deep, with a conspicuous rim of dense long hairs inside, strigillose with a few glandular hairs outside. Sepals 2.5-4.5 × 1-1.3 mm, strigillose, somewhat keeled. Petals rose-purple, 3.5-6 × 1.8-3 mm. Filaments of the longer stamens 2-2.2 mm long. Style white, 2.5-3.5 mm long, glabrous; stigma clavate, 1.5-2 mm high. Capsule strigillose, 4-7 cm long; fruiting pedicel 0.4-1.6 cm long. Seeds 0.8-1.0 × 0.35-0.4 mm, obovoid, coarsely papillose.
N.: scattered from Kaipara Harbour S., but not seen from Gisborne or Taranaki; S.: on both sides of the Main Divide south to the Liebig Range and the upper Ashburton R. catchment, Lake Pukaki.
Eurasia, Macaronesia 1902
Bogs, swamps, lakesides, and waste places, sometimes a weed in gardens, sea level to 1150 m.
FL Dec-Feb.
Raven and Raven noted that most material on which E. erectum Petrie is based is referable to E. obscurum and the remainder to E. ciliatum.
