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Epilobium angustifolium - L.

Willow Herb

Author	L.	Botanical references	17, 200
Family	Onagraceae	Genus	Epilobium
Synonyms	Chamaenerion angustifolium - (L.)Scop.
Known Hazards	An infusion of the leaves is said to stupefy a person[4].
Range	Europe, including Britain, temperate Asia and N. America.
Habitat	Rocky ground, waste areas, woodland edges and gardens[7, 13].
Edibility Rating	3 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	2 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 2m by 1m at a fast rate.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; Meadow;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers; Leaves; Root; Stem.

Edible Uses: Tea.

Leaves and young shoot tips - raw or cooked[2, 5, 12, 62, 172, 183]. They can be used in salads or cooked as a vegetable[9]. When boiled they make a wholesome vegetable and are a good source of vitamins A and C[2, 257]. Only use the leaves when they are young[85]. Although they are said to be edible, another report says that an infusion of them can stupefy[4]. Young shoots - cooked. They make a good asparagus substitute[2, 9, 183, 213]. Root - raw, cooked or dried and ground into a powder[74, 172]. Used in spring, it has a sweet taste[12, 74]. Flower stalks - raw or cooked[85, 106, 172, 183]. Added to salads, they are used when the flowers are in bud[183]. The pith of young or older stems - raw or cooked[62, 99, 183]. Slightly sweet, tender and pleasing to eat, though there is not much of it[85, 172]. Gelatinous[161], it can be used as a flavouring in soups[183]. The stems are said to be a good laxative, but are best not eaten on an empty stomach[256]. A tea is made from the dried leaves[9, 62, 85, 94, 183], it is sweet and pleasant[172]. Called 'kaporie' tea in Russia, it contains 10% tannin[222]. The leaves are also used as an adulterant of China tea[2].

Medicinal Uses

Antiinflammatory; Antispasmodic; Astringent; Demulcent; Emollient; Hypnotic; Laxative; Poultice; Tonic.

Willow herb is often used as a domestic herbal remedy, though it is little used in conventional herbalism. The herb is antispasmodic, astringent, demulcent, emollient, hypnotic, laxative and tonic[4, 7, 172, 192]. It is used in the treatment of diarrhoea, mucous colitis and irritable bowel syndrome[254]. The plant is used in Germany and Austria to treat prostate problems[254]. A poultice of the leaves is applied to mouth ulcers[222]. An extract of the leaves has anti-inflammatory activity[222]. An ointment made from the leaves has been used to soothe skin problems in children[254]. A tea made from the leaves and roots is a folk remedy for dysentery and abdominal cramps[222]. A poultice made from the peeled roots is applied to burns, skin sores, swellings, boils etc[222, 257].

Other Uses

Fibre; Stuffing; Tinder; Weather protection.

A fibre obtained from the outer stems is used to make cordage[99, 207, 256]. The 'cottony' seed hairs are used as a stuffing material[99, 118] or as a tinder[106, 172]. The powdered inner cortex is applied to the hands and face to give protection from the cold[99, 172, 257].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it prefers a well-drained but moisture retentive soil in a sunny position[200], though it succeeds in most soils[1]. It prefers a moist soil[111], but also succeeds on dry banks[188]. It is best grown in open woodland[1]. Plants are hardy to at least -20°c[187]. The rosebay willowherb spreads vigorously by means of a creeping rhizome, and often forms large patches[187]. It is apt to become a weed especially through its seed which is very light and capable of travelling long distances in the wind. It is often one of the first plants to colonize disturbed areas such as scenes of fires[1, 200]. A very ornamental plant[1], it is the floral emblem of the Yukon[172]. A food plant for the caterpillars of several lepidoptera species[24], it is also a good bee plant[74, 94].

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring in situ or as soon as the seed is ripe[111]. This plant is more than capable of finding its own way into most gardens and does not usually require an invitation. Division in spring or autumn. Very easy, larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Links

Permaculture.info Details of this plant in the Permaculture.info project, a community plant and permaculture database.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[12] Loewenfeld. C. and Back. P. Britain's Wild Larder. David and Charles 0 ISBN 0-7153-7971-2
A handy pocket guide.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden. 0
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[94] Sweet. M. Common Edible and Useful Plants of the West. Naturegraph Co. 1962 ISBN 0-911010-54-8
Useful wild plants in Western N. America. A pocket guide.

[99] Turner. N. J. Plants in British Columbian Indian Technology. British Columbia Provincial Museum 1979 ISBN 0-7718-8117-7
Excellent and readable guide.

[106] Coon. N. The Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press 1975 ISBN 0-87857-090-x
Interesting reading but short on detail.

[111] Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials. Collingridge 1926
A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.

[118] Gunther. E. Ethnobotany of Western Washington. University of Washington Press 1981 ISBN 0-295-95258-X
A small book, it is a good guide to useful plants in Western N. America.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture. 0
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[172] Schofield. J. J. Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. 0
A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[192] Emboden. W. Narcotic Plants Studio Vista 1979 ISBN 0-289-70864-8
A lot of details about the history, chemistry and use of narcotic plants, including hallucinogens, stimulants, inebriants and hypnotics.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

[256] Turner. N. J. Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples UBC Press. Vancouver. 1995 ISBN 0-7748-0533-1
Excellent little handbook about the native food plants of Western Canada. Good descriptions of the plants and their uses with colour photos of most plants.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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