Flowers in Sweden: Fireweed

Epilobium angustifolium, SE: Mjölkört, DE: Schmalblättrige Weidenröschen,
NL: Wilgenroosje, UK: Fireweed, Rosebay Willowherb


Scientific name:		Epilobium angustifolium L.
Synonym name:		Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop., Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub.
Swedish name:		Mjölkört
German name:		Schmalblättrige Weidenröschen
Nederlandse naam:		Wilgenroosje
English name:		Fireweed, Rosebay Willowherb
Plant Family:		Onagraceae, Willowherb family, Dunörtsväxter

Sweden wildflowers and native plants - Vilda blommor i Sverige


Life form:		Perennial from rhizome-like roots
Stems:		Round or somewhat angular, usually unbranched; they often become reddish in the sun near the inflorescence
Leaves:		Alternate, entire, lanceolate, and pinnately veined; the leaf veins are circular
Flowers:		Magenta, 4 petals, stigma with 4 branches; inflorescence a long, terminal raceme of stalked flowers
Flowering Period:		July, August
Fruits:		Narrow, green to purple pod opening to release seeds with tufts of hair at the top; ripening in late summer
Habitat:		woods, thickets, clearings and settlements

Derivation of the botanical name:
Epilobium from the Byzantine Greek word epi, ἐπί, "upon", lobos, λοβός, λόβος "lobe", "a pod or capsule," as the flower and capsule appear together, the corolla being borne on the end of the ovary.
angustifolium, angustus "narrow", i, connective vowel used by botanical Latin, folium, "leaf"; narrow leaf.
Chamaenerion, Greek chamai, on the ground, lowly, creeping, dwarf; nerion, oleander; dwarf oleander.
Chamerion has replaced the invalid name Chamaenerion published by Seguier in 1754.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
The standard author abbreviation Scop. is used to indicate Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (1723 – 1788), an Italian physician and naturalist.
The standard author abbreviation Holub. is used to indicate Josef Ludwig Holub (1930 – 1999), a Czech botanist.

Firewood gets its name because it is one of the first plants to colonize barren ground after a disturbance such as a forest fire and forest clearing.
Vilda blommor i Sverige

_{Date Picture Taken: July 11, 2008}

Zweden, Bloemen, Natuur

Flora of Sweden online, Native plants, Sverige