1. (noun) willowherb, Epilobium microphyllum - an endemic tufted, creeping herb with woody bases, and numerous ascending, wiry, purple-black or black stems. White petals and flowers from December - February. Found from about Kāwhia and East Cape south, locally abundant around the Cook Strait region, thence mainly easterly in the South Island in gravelly or shingly riverbeds, flats and outwash plains from sea level to 1,200 m.