Fireweed

Scientific name

Chamerion angustifolium

Description

Fireweed is a perennial wildflower species that grow up to 1.5 m in height. The stem is smooth, round, and turns from green to red towards the top of the plant. The leaves are light green coloured, alternately arranged, narrow and lance shaped, similar to Willow leaves, have a prominent central vein, and have entire margins. The flowers are showy, purple to pink coloured, have four petals and four sepals, appear at the top of the stem, and bloom between June and September. The flowers are replaced with seedpods that split into multiple sections, beginning at their tips and curling backward, releasing tiny seeds with small tufts of white hair. The flowers are beneficial to pollinator species, like bees and butterflies. This wildflower spreads well and can be used to naturalize un-vegetated areas. The roots can be useful for controlling erosion and stabilizing shorelines. Fireweed gets its name due to its ability to quickly colonize areas recently burned by fire.

Planting conditions

Fireweed grows best in normal to moist conditions with full sun to partial sun exposure. It prefers organically rich, humus, sand, or loam soil types. It can be found growing naturally in moist sedge meadows, open forests, forest edges, sandy marshes, bogs, and areas where trees and brush have been recently removed by fire.

Details

• Plant height:
  • Max 1.5m
  • Max 2m
  • Max 3m
  • Any
• Moisture level:
  • Normal
  • Moist
• Light conditions:
  • Full sun
  • Partial sun
• Soil type:
  • Sandy
  • Loamy
  • Humus
• pH:
  • Acidic
  • Normal
• Depth:
  • Wildflower
• Eco Zone:
  • 1a
  • 1b
  • 2a
  • 2b
  • 3a
  • 3b
  • 4a
  • 4b
• Plant type:
  • Wildflower
• Height:
  • 1.5 m
• Spread:
  • 1 m