Plant News

A friend near the bend in the creek

By Peter H. Johnson
Special to the Turnagain Times

While walking near a creek an easily spotted friend may make an appearance. With magenta colored flowers that seem to burst open at exactly the right time of year. Four petals that simply fold back with slightly darker colored sepals that point outward directly behind the petals, adding certain elegance to this already well dressed forest dweller. Dwarf fireweed (Chamerion latifolium) may not reach to the skies as much as its larger family member, the tall fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) but with the magenta flowers paired against the whitish-green alternating leaves, the entire flower seems to be much larger.

Often times you may find a group of these flowers on a gravel bar near a creek. A seemingly unfertile rocky or talus slope makes for a preferable spot for these tough yet beautiful flowers. Newly disturbed or burned over areas are also preferable to fireweed. This may be the reason they have developed such reverence in different areas. It is the national flower of Greenland where it goes by the name niviarsiaq, which means “little girl”. In Greenland it finds little competition on its rocky terrain. It is also the floral emblem of the Yukon Territory. Native Alaskans have used this flower as a delectable food source during spring months when the plant is soft with new growth, later in the summer when the stem becomes hard you can split the stem open and eat the pith inside. The plant itself is circumboreal meaning it can be found across the entire northern hemisphere. This river beauty never stops giving back to its cheerful observer.

The seeds are dispersed with long silky or cotton like fibers to carry it on the wind or to hitchhike with a passerby. It has also been said that miners and old sourdoughs used this plant in place of a calendar to plan their departure from secluded mines and backcountry areas. For when you see the snowy cotton floating from the fireweed you have six weeks until your first snow.

So enjoy this wondrous flower whenever you get the chance and take the time to really study the colors and vividness of the petals in contrast to the leaves. Remember also that there are many of us who would love to see the Dwarf fireweed in its natural setting and that a picked bouquet doesn’t last nearly as long as a natural flourishing stream bank garden does. There you can witness the entire life cycle as it blooms, wanes and goes to seed, preparing a seed bank for next summer’s grand show.