[So named from the resemblance of the leaves to the willow’s. Cf. the earlier herb willow (HERB sb. 7 b).
All the plants so named were formerly included under the name Lysimachia.]
1. Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia vulgaris.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. li. 74. The first [Lysimachion] which we may call Golden or yellow Lysimachus, Willow herbe, and Louse strife.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cxxii. 386. Lysimachia lutea. Yellow Willow herbe.
1755. B. Stillingfl., Cal. Flora, 2 Sept.
1857. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., IV. 236. (Great Yellow Loosestrife) … is sometimes called Yellow Willow-herb.
2. Any plant of the extensive genus Epilobium, esp. E. angustifolium and hirsutum.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. li. 73. Lysimachium purpureum primum. The first purple red, willow herbe.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cxxii. 386. Lysimachia siliquosa. Codded Willow herbe…. Chamænerion. Rose bay Willow herbe.
1697. Llwyd, in Phil. Trans., XXVII. 50. The Common French Willow-Herb.
1785. Martyn, Lett. Bot., xix. (1794), 257. Our European Willow Herbs.
1802. Coleridge, Picture, 89. Lychnis, and willow-herb, and fox-glove bells.
1861. S. Thomson, Wild Fl., III. (ed. 4), 224. The willow-herb, or Epilobium genus.
1899. Crockett, Kit Kennedy, xxxvii. A little ten-yard square island all overgrown with red purple willow herb.
3. Spiked or Purple-spiked Willow-herb: Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum Salicaria.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. li. 75. Poynted willow Herbe with the purple floure.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cxxii. 386. Lysimachia purpurea spicata. Spiked Willow herbe.
1755. B. Stillingfl., Cal. Flora, 1 July.
4. In full Hooded Willow-herb: Scutellaria galericulata or S. minor.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cxxii. 387. Lysimachia galericulata, or hoodded Willowe herbe.
1777. Lightfoot, Flora Scotica, I. 320. Scutellaria minor.… Little red Scull cap, or Willow-herb.
1785. Martyn, Lett. Bot., iv. (1794), 46. Some plants only having little or no smell as … hooded willow herb.
1866. in Treas. Bot.
