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Onagraceae family

Leafy Willowherb Epilobium foliosum

Native

Leafy Willowherb is an annual wildflower native to Canada and the lower 48 states. It blooms Apr – Jul.

More about this plant

Epilobium foliosum is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names leafy willowherb and California willowherb. It is native to parts of western North America from British Columbia through California to Arizona, where it grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 6 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Annual
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
The garden year bloom → fruit → fall colour
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Bloom
Bloom (the flower's colour)
Bloom · Apr – Jul — 69 obs · Herbarium specimens — Park et al. 2023 (CC BY 4.0)
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 (11) 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
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[10] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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