Epilobium

Epilobium, a genus of Onagraceae, comprising some 50 species of perennial herbs and undershrubs native to the colder regions of both hemispheres. Their narrow tapering leaves have gained them the name willow-herb. The flower is generally pink or red, but less commonly white or yellow. It has four petals, eight stamens, and an elongated four-chambered inferior ovary, containing numerous seeds, each having a tuft of long hairs. Of some twelve British species several are inconspicuous, but E. hirsutum is known as "Codlinsand-cream," from the peculiar scent of its leaves and shoots, and the long, erect racemes of E. angustifolium, the Rose Bay, are still more conspicuous, so that it is commonly cultivated.