Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Myrtales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Onagraceae
Genus
Epilobium L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Epilobium melanocaulon Hook. (1848)
Synonymy:
  • = Epilobium polyclonum Hausskn., Monogr. Epilobium 308 (1884)
  • ≡ Epilobium melanocaulon var. polyclonum (Hausskn.) Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl. 183 (1906)
  • = Epilobium melanocaulon var. typica Cockayne & Allan, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 56: 22 (1926) nom. illeg. – as typicum
  • = Epilobium melanocaulon var. viride Cockayne & Allan, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 56: 22 (1926)
 Description

Crisp herb, branched at the base and sometimes also above, 10–30 cm tall, from a stout taproot. Stems usually purplish black, sometimes green, with dense strigillose hairs in lines. Lamina of lf narrow-elliptic to elliptic, 3–12–(20) × 1–4–(6) mm. Floral tube 0.2–0.6 mm deep, glabrous. Petals white, flushed pink after pollination, 5–6.5 × 2.3–3 mm. Capsules glabrous, 1.8–3.8 cm long; fruiting pedicel 0–0.9 cm long.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Jan.–Mar.

 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1906: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Government Printer, Wellington.
Cockayne, L.; Allan, H.H. 1926: Notes on New Zealand floristic botany, including descriptions of new species, & c. (No. 4). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 56: 21–33.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Haussknecht, H.C. 1884: Monographie der Gattung Epilobium. Jena.
Raven, P.H.; Raven, T. E. 1976: The Genus Epilobium (Onagraceae) in Australasia: a Systematic and Evolutionary Study. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 216: 1–321.