Narrow-leaved Willowherb

Epilobium leptophyllum

Pollinator Value

🐛 Larval Host: Hyles lineata, Anticlea multiferata, Spargania luctuata, Eustroma semiatrata, Albuna pyramidalis, Ecliptopera silaceata, Proserpinus flavofasciata, Spargania magnoliata, Alypia langtoni, Eulithis gracilineata, Amphion floridensis
S13+S15 11 verified Eastern NA
❄️ Winter Food Source: Seeds of Epilobium are consumed by Dusky Grouse (Phasianidae, 8% diet by volume) and Eurasian Linnet (Fringillidae, 1.25% diet by items). Seed period extends summer through fall but seeds do not persist on the plant, limiting late-winter availability.
S57 genus-level avian diet data; S11 Fruit/Seed Persistence=No

Proximity Score: 0
Native Status: ✅ Outaouais ✅ Ottawa ✅ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: Local
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.2 – Mixed Wood Shield, 5.2.3 – Algonquin/Southern Laurentians
Rarity Notes: Secure in Ontario (S5) and apparently secure in Quebec (S4). Globally ranked G5 with IUCN status LC (Least Concern). Not listed under SARA or COSEWIC. Widespread across North America from Alaska to Newfoundland and south to Tennessee and Virginia.
S22 G5, IUCN=LC, not SARA listed; S26 not in SARA registry; S1 native to 12 Canadian jurisdictions
Rarity Ranks: QC S4 – Apparently Secure, ON S5 – Secure
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: Obligate wetland perennial of bogs, fens, marshes, cedar and tamarack swamps, and wet meadows across the Mixed Wood Shield. Typically found on saturated organic or muck soils, often on Sphagnum mats or hummocks in sedge-dominated wetlands. Tolerates disturbed wet habitats including cleared swamp edges and old fields with seepage. In the Outaouais, documented in open wetlands near Chelsea and along streams in the Pontiac region.
S7 bog/marsh/swamp habitats; S61 bogs, fens, marshes, swamps; S48 specimens from Chelsea and Pontiac QC; S11 wetland=OBL

❌ Not Edible

Foraging Notes: No documented edible uses. USDA rates human palatability as none, and no ethnobotanical food records exist in the Moerman database.
S11 Palatable Human=No; S28 no uses found