Willowherb, Marsh

Information on Marsh Willowherb

Common Name: Marsh Willowherb
Scientific Name: Epilobium palustre
Irish Name: Saileachán corraigh
Family Group: Onagraceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Marsh Willowherb could sometimes be confused with:

Willowherb, Short-fruited,

To find this little plant, you really have to risk getting wet feet. Its favoured habitats are damp ditches, marshes, fens and bogs. It is an erect perennial reaching 60 cm high with a round, unridged stem. From July to August, it bears pale pink or white 4-petalled flowers (4-7 mm). The flowers, which have club-shaped stigmas, are held horizontally or drooping slightly. The hairless, linear-lanceolate leaves are untoothed and in opposite pairs. This plant is stoloniferous, that is to say it rises from creeping stems and these stolons develop small bulbs at their tips. These bulbs can break off in autumn and float to new ground where they may form fresh plants. This is a native plant and it belongs to the Onagraceae family. 

I first recorded and photographed this plant in Bohernabreena, County Dublin in 2011 when it was pointed out to me by botanist, Paul Green.

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

Although this plant is distributed throughout Ireland, its habitat is sadly declining owing to land drainage and subsequent loss of habitat. 

Willowherb, Marsh
Willowherb, Marsh
Willowherb, Marsh