Alaska Nature Photography

Fireweed

This image of common fireweed was taken in Valdez, Alaska.

Fireweed or Epilobium angustifolium grows larger than its barren-ground relative. It has longer, narrower leaves and smaller but nonetheless very showy flowers borne on long erect spikes. Fireweed has a much broader range that includes much of Eurasia and northern North America.

Tall fireweed occupies moist tundra, but is most abundant in meadows and forest margins. Like dwarf fireweed, it is particularly adapted to capitalize on disturbance. Thus it is prominent after fires and in areas where vegetation is periodically disrupted by people, such as roadsides. Tall fireweed is edible, but is not considered particularly tasty. As their Russian name "Ivan's tea," implies, both fireweeds are used for tea in the Russian Republic.

Order # - Wildflower 27

Delta Junction, Alaska 99737
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