Chamaenerion angustifolium var. spectabile Simmons; C. spicatum (Lamarck) Gray; Epilobium angustifolium Linnaeus var. albiflorum Dumortier; E. angustifolium var. album G. Don; E. angustifolium var. pygmaeum Jepson; E. spicatum Lamarck; E. spicatum var. leucanthum Wender

Stems 20–130 cm, subglabrous. Leaves subsessile; cauline blades linear-lanceolate to narrowly lanceo­late, (3–)7–14(–18.5) × (0.3–)0.7–1.3(–2.5) cm, base rounded to cuneate, margins usually entire, rarely low-denticulate, surfaces and veins glabrous. Inflorescences subglabrous; bracts 5–20 mm. Flowers: sepals 6–15 × 1.5–2.5 mm, acute or acuminate; petals obovate to narrowly obovate, 9–15(–19) × 3–9(–11) mm, entire or scarcely emarginate; filaments 7–14 mm; anthers 2–2.5 mm; pollen 3-porate (rarely 4-porate), 60–75 µm diam.; ovaries 6–20 mm, style 8–14 mm. Capsules 4–8 cm; pedicels 0.5–2 cm. Seeds 0.9–1 × 0.3–0.4 mm. 2n = 36.

Flowering Jun–Sep. Moist, often disturbed, places in mountains or in lower areas, frequent especially after fires; 0–3800 m; Greenland; Alta., B.C., Man., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Idaho, Minn., Mont., Pa., Utah, Wash., Wyo.; Eurasia.

Plants with white corollas, only a minor variant, sometimes occur. Because of reduced competition in Arctic regions after fires, large populations of subsp. angustifolium may persist for many years.