Epilobium howellii

Subalpine fireweed

Family: Onagraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Subalpine fireweed is a California native perennial herb found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Mountains in wet meadows and mossy seeps at elevations of 1,950 to 2,700 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces small white flowers about 2 to 3 millimeters long with nodding flower buds. Growing less than 20 centimeters tall with loosely clumped stems that are densely glandular-hairy, it spreads through short, thread-like stolons. Its leaves range from round or ovate on the lower stem to lanceolate higher up, measuring 4 to 20 millimeters long with rounded or obtuse tips and sparse strigose hairs. The delicate plant produces fruits 35 to 45 millimeters long on slender pedicels, making it a distinctive component of high-elevation mountain meadows.

Habitat: Wet meadows, mossy seeps

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 1950-2700 m

Bioregions: n&ampc SNH.

California counties: Sierra, Nevada, Fresno, Tuolumne, El Dorado

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.