Fireweed

PEI has wildflowers that are beautiful, edible, and ecologically important. Today we have an example that’s all three, and flowering now: Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium)!

Fireweed can be found across the Island, blooming in vacant urban lots, along rural roads and fields, and among forests impacted by 2022’s Hurricane Fiona. While it gets its name from an ability to recolonize land following wildfire, it doesn’t need fire to appear: any disturbance will do. Fireweed is found in every Canadian province and territory, popping up after fires in the north, landslides in Rocky Mountains, logging in central and western Canada, and ice storms and hurricanes here in the east.

Fireweed’s remarkable restorative ability is thanks to two adaptations. First, it grows from rhizomes which can remain protected and dormant in the soil for decades. So, even though you may not see Fireweed within a forest, if fire, harvest, or hurricane opens the canopy, this plant can take advantage of the changing conditions to re-appear.

Second, a single Fireweed plant can produce as many as 80,000 seeds, each with a bit of fluff that helps it travel far on the wind. Seeds landing on newly-exposed ground quickly take root and thrive in the absence of competition. Whether by rhizome or seed, Fireweed’s early arrival to disturbed sites helps stabilize soil, add organic matter, provide food for wildlife, and kick-start ecological recovery.

If beauty and restoration weren’t enough, all parts of Fireweed are edible. Young Fireweed shoots are a tasty spring treat; flowers make a beautiful garnish, syrup, or jelly; leaves can be processed into a very pleasant black tea; the inner pith of the stem is a sweet trailside snack; and the starchy root can be boiled or roasted. (You can find my recipe for Fireweed Jelly and instructions for processing Fireweed leaves into tea in my book, Wild Foods of Prince Edward Island).

Unfortunately, native and beneficial Fireweed is sometimes mistaken for invasive and harmful Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Loosestrife is also flowering now, but its flower head is more compact and darker purple than loose-looking, pink Fireweed. Fireweed also has four petals per flower, round stems, and alternate leaves, whereas Loosestrife has five or six petals per flower, square stems, and leaves that are opposite or whorled.

As a final note, Fireweed flowers are usually magenta-pink, but there is a rare, white variety (inset photo); in my 35 years of botanical work here on the Island, I’ve only ever come across it once. Whatever the colour, Fireweed is a valued member of PEI Untamed!