Botanical Archive No. 005

Fireweed

Chamaenerion angustifolium

This flower is native to Alaska, it grows so well and right away, right after wildfires, hence its name. For generations, Alaskan Native peoples and other northern cultures have used the young growth as a spring vegetable, used the leaves in tea, and used its blossoms as a seasonal food. Its flowers are extremely important for bees here.

Archive record

Harvest

I harvest the leaves in late spring through early summer. You want to get the leaves before the flowers bloom for the best quality. Flowers are usually collected right after they have bloomed. When harvesting, do not take too many of these. They are needed by pollinators. Do not harvest fireweed directly off the side of the road, it could have been treated with chemicals.

Grown

Roadsides, burns, and clearings across Interior Alaska

Bloom time

June-August

Drying notes

You'll want to dry these quickly. Traditionally, they were dried out by laying them flat in a dry, dark room. Now people will use a dehydrator to make sure they hold all of their nutrients.

Storage

Store dried flowers away from light in an airtight jar. Their color fades within a year.

Recipes

Used for teas, honey syrup, jelly, infused honey, bath soaks, and much more.

This is one flower almost everyone knows in Alaska. In disturbed or distressed lands after wildfires, this flower grows and transforms the land into beautiful pink and magenta. The flowers grow from the bottom of the spike upwards. As the top of the spike gets covered in blooms Alaskans know Autumn is quickly approaching.

This plant, I have to say, is a pain for me. With it loving to naturally grow in disturbed land, you'll see it most along highways and roads, trails, railways, and anything along those lines. That being said, you see it everywhere, but you'll want to avoid grabbing it by roads, trails, and anywhere they could get any sort of pollution on them. Limiting their favorite and most common places they grow from your gathering list. Once you do find some untouched plants, you'll be all set and can keep revisiting them as they grow. They require a little bit of hunting to get them, but they are absolutely worth the annoyance and hard work.