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Fireweed
Common
Name(s):
Fireweed
Scientific
Name:
Chamerion
angustifolium (L.) Holub
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
Chamaenerion angustifolium
(L.) Scop.
Epilobium angustifolium L.
Symbol:
CHAN9
Description:
Life
Span: Perennial
Origin:
Native
Season: Cool
Growth Characteristics:
An
erect, generally unbranching forb, growing up to 9 feet tall. It
has fine roots and rhizomes. It flowers June to September, and reproduces
from seeds and rhizomes.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Very
showy, petals are deep pink to magenta or rarely white. Sepals often
tinged in purple. Petals and sepals both occur in groups of 4. Inferior
ovary.
Fruits/Seeds:A
4-sided, 4-celled capsule, split into 4 valves. It is often purplish
and up to 3 inches long, and contains 300 to 500 seeds. Seeds have
a tuft of long hair on one end. The fruit develops rapidly, and
buds, flowers, and mature fruit can appear on the same plant.
Leaves: Alternate
to spirally arranged. Blades are narrow and lance-shaped, margins
are entire or remotely toothed. Leaves can be up to 8 inches long.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Fireweed
occurs in open woods and along streams. Fireweed is well adapted
to disturbed areas such as cut-over or burned forests and swamps,
avalanche areas, recently deglaciated areas, and riverbars. Additional
disturbed sites are highway and railroad rights-of-way, waste places,
and old fields. It is especially abundant following fire.
Soils: It
is adapted to dry and moist soils, growing in a broad range of soil
types.
Associated Species:
Aspen,
Englemann spruce, subalpine
fir.
Uses and
Management:
Fireweed
provides fair to good forage for sheep, and poor to fair for cattle.
It is grazed to a minor extent by horses, deer, and elk. It becomes
unpalatable with maturity.
It was historically used as a potherb. Young shoots can be cooked
like asparagus, young leaves used in salads and steeped for tea.
The pith of the stem can be used to flavor and thicken stews and
soups. It is an important honey plant.
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