FIREWEED

FIREWEED ALONG TOWNSEND ROAD...

...FIREWEED FLOWER SPIKE

Tuesday,  8:30 AM.  64 degrees F at the ferry dock, 60 on the back porch. The wind is variable but mostly westerly, with occasional moderate gusts. The sky is partly cloudy, and the humidity has risen to 77%.  The barometer is more-or-less steady at 29.88".  It looks like a repeat of yesterday, which was a fine day.

     Fireweed, Epilobium angustifolium, in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae) is a circumboreal  perennial plant that typically occupies disturbed habitats, such as occurs due to a fire, hence its common name. Chamerium angustifolium is a botanical synonym.  It is also called willow-herb (because of its long, narrow, willow-like leaves) as well as wicup.  It is often seen in large masses in fields and roadsides after a fire and can be very prominent in the landscape.  It is quite beautiful and blooms for a long time, the lower flowers on the flower spike blooming first.  It is native to most of the northern half of North America, and at elevation in the western mountains.

  All parts of the young plant and roots are reportedly edible, sweet and quite good, eaten raw as a salad, or cooked.  It has many reported medicinal properties, including for the treatment of urinary tract problems, and the leaves have been used as a restorative tea.  I have no personal experience with it as an edible or medicinal plant. One again, never ingest any wild plant without definite identification and exact knowledge of edibility or medicinal use. 

   The stem fibers are quite tough and were used by native peoples to make cordage and fish nets.

   Altogether it is a very beautiful and traditionally useful wild plant.