Epilobium coloratum Biehler
Purpleleaf willowherb, cinnamon willow-herb
Cinnamon willow-herb, a North American native, is a member of the evening primrose family.
Plants: This species is quite variable. They have a vaguely disorganized look about them. Plants are 1–3′ (30–91 cm) tall, erect, sometimes branching. Stems may be square or round.
Leaves: Opposite or alternate. They attach directly to the leaf (”sessile”) or by a short stem, called the petiole. Leaves are toothed, narrow (“lanceolate”), up to 4 ⨉ ½″ (10 ⨉ 1.3 cm).
Flowers: ¼″ (8.5 mm) around, with four white or pale pink petals, each petal with two lobes. The flowers are in racemes—loose clusters—and they appear from July to August.
Fruits: Each flower tops a “stem” about 2″ (6 cm) long that develops into a skinny fruit, like a straight bean, about 1/32″ (1.3 mm) around.
Habitats: Poorly-drained prairies; moist, wooded areas; bogs; marshes; and edges of rivers and ponds. Tolerates occasional flooding.
Online References:
8/9/2025 · Garcelon Bog, Lewiston, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 5″ (11 × 13 cm) 
8/9/2025 · Garcelon Bog, Lewiston, Maine · ≈ 4 × 3½″ (11 × 9 cm) 
8/9/2025 · Garcelon Bog, Lewiston, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 6″ (11 × 16 cm) 
8/18/2010 · J. Harry Rich Woods, off Nod Rd., Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 8″ (15 × 21 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
9/8/2017 · Bates Land and Blackman Land, Groton Conservation Trust, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
9/8/2017 · Bates Land and Blackman Land, Groton Conservation Trust, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
9/8/2017 · Bates Land and Blackman Land, Groton Conservation Trust, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) 
8/9/2025 · Garcelon Bog, Lewiston, Maine · ≈ 2 × 2½″ (6 × 6.2 cm) 
12/20/2024 · Field Estuary, Freeport, Maine 
8/9/2025 · Garcelon Bog, Lewiston, Maine · ≈ 3 × 3″ (7.7 × 8 cm) 
8/22/2023 · Schiller Coastal Studies Center, Orr’s Island, Maine · ≈ 6 × 9″ (16 × 23 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Myrtales | Includes myrtles, leadwoods, loosestrifes, pomegranates, evening primroses, many others |
| Family | Onagraceae | Willowherb/evening primrose family |
| Genus | Epilobium | From Greek epi, “upon,” and lobos, “a pod or capsule,” because the flower is attached directly to the ovary |
| Species | coloratum | “Colored” |
Epilobium coloratum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.