willow herb

noun

any of numerous plants belonging to the genus Epilobium, of the evening primrose family, having terminal clusters of purplish or white flowers.

Origin of willow herb

First recorded in 1570–80

Compare fireweed.

Words Nearby willow herb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use willow herb in a sentence

Those I had were laid in June on a leaf of willow herb (Epilobium).
The Moths of the British Isles, First Series | Richard South
Masses of red valerian, and some of the graceful bright rose-bay willow-herb, give colour to the banks and overhang the walls.
Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts | Rosalind Northcote
Next season Coltsfoot, willow-herb, Oxyria, and two grasses had planted themselves.
The Romance of Plant Life | G. F. Scott Elliot
It will eat almost any sort of Galium; also willow herb (Epilobium), and purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).
The Moths of the British Isles, First Series | Richard South
Across where there is a mud-bank the stout stems of the willow herb are already tall.
Round About a Great Estate | Richard Jefferies

British Dictionary definitions for willowherb

willowherb

/ (ˈwɪləʊˌhɜːb) /

noun

any of various temperate and arctic onagraceous plants of the genus Epilobium, having narrow leaves, terminal clusters of pink, purplish, or white flowers, and willow-like feathery seeds
rosebay willowherb See rosebay

purple loosestrife See loosestrife
hairy willowherb See codlins-and-cream

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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