Rosebay Willowherb
Luminous flowers in the Breamish Valley
Now that Autumn has begun, this widespread wildflower is dispersing the last of its seed. It’s actually one of my favourite wildflowers – partly because it’s so easy to identify but also because of its bold, almost luminous, colours that seem to light up shady areas. It can be seen all the way along the Breamish Valley.
A willowherb by any other name?
Scientific name
Chamerion angustifolium
Other names
- Bay Willow
- Blooming Willow
- Burntweed
- Fireweed
As with so many plants, there are numerous regional variations for their names. A friend of mine suggested that another name for Rosebay Willowherb was ‘Sunthorpe Lily’. And, not unsurprisingly, she did hail from Scunthorpe. However, a quick search on the internet only found images of females who were…yes, you guessed it…called Lily and from Scunthorpe!
Description
Rosebay Willowherb is a tall (0.5-1.1m), erect herbaceous perennial with lance-like leaves arranged on reddish stems. They are frequently found crowding together in open fields and other clearings.
Rosebay Willowherb plants crowding together at Branton
The flowers are bright pink-purple and distributed along a flower spike. Rosebay Willowherb usually flowers between Jun-Sep.
Pink-purple flowers (taken July at Brandon)
The fertilised flowers produce reddish-brown seed capsules containing around 400 seeds, each with attached silky hairs to help them disperse in the wind.
