Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

120ONAGRACEAEEpilobium hirsutum. Great hairy willowherb, Codlins and cream, Gooseberry pudding.This handsome plant of marshy and other damp places, including road verges, is ubiquitous inSussex according to Hall (1980) but is not quite so widespread in Ashdown Forest. Theblanks on the map for such a conspicuous and well-known plant as this one are likely toindicate real gaps in its distribution with some degree of accuracy and, in many cases,correspond to the main areas of heathland.Common in England and increasing but absent from much of Scotland and Wales (Rich &Woodruff 1996). Widespread in Europe, temperate Asia and Africa.Epilobium ciliatum x hirsutum.A single record from the car park, St John's (505.316), 1991, PW, det. G. Kitchener. It isoccasionally recorded in Britain where the parents meet.This car park and its hybrids were first discovered by PW, who suggested they should beinvestigated in more detail. There seems to be some very promiscuous E. cilt"atum about!3 -+-)------'--)-4 5Epilabium parviflarum. Small-flowered hairy willowherb.Common on the Forest (Hall 1980).Scattered over the Forest in damp places but avoiding the more acidic areas. The Britishdistribution is rather sim'ilar to E. hirsutum. It is found over much of Europe, western Asia toIndia, and North Africa.3 -+-I-..---...,,'----'I'---J__j_4 5Epilobium obscurum x parviflorum.Roadside near Kidbrook Park, det. G. M. Ash (Wolley-Dod 1937).Kidbrook Park in 1995, TR & PA.Surprisingly, another possible plant was found inEpilobium ciliatum x parviflorum.Several plants in a car park, St John's (505.316), 1992, G. Kitchener.3 -+-)------'--)-4 5Epilobium montanum. Broad-leaved willowherb.This is the commonest Epi/obium species in Sussex (Hall 1980) and, jointly with E. obscurum,the most common in our survey. It is found most often in woods, hedgebanks and roadverges but also occurs as a garden weed. Its distribution in the Forest is rather similar toPrimula vulgaris and Arum maculatum which are clearly associated with woods and shadyhedgebanks.Widespread throughout Britain apart from some areas of Scotland. It occurs in most ofEurope, western Asia, Siberia and Japan.4 5