Rosebay Willowherb
Chamerion angustifolium
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Fireweed — it swept across bombed cities and burnt ground within a single generation.
A tall, striking perennial with long narrow willow-like leaves spiralling up an unbranched stem, topped by a tapering spire of magenta-pink four-petalled flowers that open from the bottom upwards. Rosebay willowherb is abundant around Dumfries on railway banks, clear-felled plantation, waste ground, verges and burnt ground.
Behaviour
It was a scarce plant in Britain two centuries ago and spread explosively with the railways and then with wartime bombing and forestry clearance — hence fireweed. Each plant can produce tens of thousands of tiny plumed seeds that travel long distances on the wind, and it also spreads by rhizome, so it colonises disturbed ground very fast and holds it.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Willowherbs (Onagraceae)
- Height
- 80–200 cm
- Status
- Native; abundant on disturbed and burnt ground
Photo by kallerna, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons