Roadside Wildflower - Fireweed
Fireweed - Epilobium angustifolium
Fireweed is usually thought of as a post fire colonizer. Guess that’s how it got it’s name. The seeds must be able to remain viable for years waiting for such an opportunity. But fire isn’t it’s only friend.
Bees love Fireweed judging by the numbers working the large colony I stopped at.
Bulldozers work just as well preparing the right conditions for Fireweed to take advantage of. Along the southern end of Route 56 in the Town of Colton there are a number of Fireweed colonies that owe their existance to the utility work that laid bare the Right of Way.
You know how it goes. Spot something new or haven’t seen in a dogs age then suddenly you start seeing it everywhere. That was the case on my path through the Adirondack Mountains. There were numerous ‘patches’ dotted along the roadsides. Nearly everytime the Fireweed was growing on the sunny side of the road in higher areas. More often than not just behind a guardrail and at least a 1/2 mile to a safe spot to park.
After 10 years I finally got to replace the poor photos I had. It’s not that it’s not out there but more a case that I was blind to it.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Fireweed are very much a part of my childhood. I can’t help loving flowers that are beautiful and possible to gather in HUGE bouquets because they are so common and spreads so easy. Of course, here in Sweden they’re not an invasive species (I think), so they are not a wildlife problem either.
If I remember correctly the green leaves makes a passable tea once dried, but I haven’t tried (and I would research some more before).
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I love this flower but don’t see it in Connecticut.
That first tall picture is my favorite.