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Home / Browse / Epilobium / Fringed Willowherb (subsp. ciliatum)
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Pictured: Epilobium ciliatum — the species. This subspecies isn’t separately illustrated.
Onagraceae family

Fringed Willowherb (subsp. ciliatum) Epilobium ciliatum subsp. ciliatum subspecies

Native

Fringed Willowherb (subsp. ciliatum) is a perennial wildflower native to Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Epilobium ciliatum, known by the common names fringed willowherb, American willowherb, slender willow herb, and northern willow herb is a species of flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. This species is native to much of North America, southern South America, and East Asia. It is an introduced species in much of Eurasia and Australia. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 4 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~32 caterpillar species

Epilobium supports ~32 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a strong genus.

Recorded feeding on Epilobium in North America, including:

Acronicta oblinita · Smeared Dagger Moth Albuna pyramidalis · Fireweed Clearwing Moth Alypia langtoni · owlet moth Amphion floridensis · Nessus Sphinx Androloma maccullochii · Macculloch's Forester Anticlea multiferata · Many-Lined Carpet
+ 8 more species →
Dichomeris washingtoniella · twirler moth Ecliptopera silaceata · Small Phoenix Ecliptoptera silaceata · geometer (inchworm) moth Eudryas brevipennis · owlet moth Eudryas unio · Pearly Wood-Nymph Eulia ministrana · leafroller moth Eulithis destinata · geometer (inchworm) moth Eulithis diversilineata · Lesser Grapevine Looper Moth
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (13) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[11] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[12] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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